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Determined  Ander 
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Charles  Bradford 


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The  Determined  Angler 

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The  Determined  Angler 

and  the 

Brook  Trout 

An    Anthological   Volume  of    Trout    Fishing, 

Trout    Histories,   Trout    Lore,   Trout 

Resorts,  and  Trout  Tackle 


By 

Charles  Bradford 

Author  of  **Thc  Wildfowlcrs,'*  **Thc  Angler's  Secret/' 
",The  Angler's  Guide,*'  **  Frank  Forester/'  etc. 


Second  Edition,  Greatly  Enlarged 
Illustrated 


G.  P*  Putnam's  Sons 
New  York  London 

Zbc  Iknickerbocker  pted6 
J9J6 


Copyright,  19  i6 

BY 

CHARLES   BRADFORD 


Ube  ftnicTterbocIicr  press,  lAcxo  ISovft 


f  fc 


-< 


J,  CHARLES  DAVIS 

THESE  LITTLE  YARNS  ARE  DEDICATED  IN  REMEMBRANCE 

OF  SOME  DELIGHTFUL  OUTINGS  PASSED 

IN  HIS  SOCIETY. 


294 


THE  BROOK  TROUT'S  HOME 

"I  am  Salmo  fontinaliSf 

To  the  sparkling  fountain  bom; 
And  my  home  is  where  oxalis, 
Heather  bell  and  rose  adorn 
The  crystal  basin  in  the  dell 
(Undine  the  wood-nymph  knows  it  well): 
That  is  where  I  love  to  dwell. 

There  was  I  baptized  and  christened, 

'Neath  the  somber  aisles  of  oak; 
Mute  the  cascade  paused  and  listened, 
Never  a  word  the  brooklet  spoke ; 
Bobolink  was  witness  then, 
Likewise  grosbeak,  linnet,  wren — 
And  all  the  fairies  joined  "amen!" 

Thus  as  Salmo  fontinalis 

Recognized  the  wide  world  o'er, 
In  my  limpid  crystal  palace. 
Content  withal,  I  ask  no  more. 

Leaping  through  the  rainbow  spray, 
Snatching  flies  the  livelong  day, 
Naught  to  do  but  eat  and  play." 

Charles  Hallock. 


BROOK  TROUT  ANGLING 

".  .  .  it  carries  us  into  the  most  wild  and  beautiful  scenery  of 
nature;  amongst  the  mountain  lakes,  and  the  clear  and  lovely 
streams  that  gush  from  the  higher  ranges  of  elevated  hills,  or  that 
make  their  way  through  the  cavities  of  calcareous  strata.  How 
delightful  in  the  early  spring,  after  the  dull  and  tedious  time  of 
winter,  when  the  frosts  disappear  and  the  sunshine  warms  the 
earth  and  waters,  to  wander  forth  by  some  clear  stream,  to  see 
the  leaf  bursting  from  the  purple  bud,  to  scent  the  odors  of  the 
bank  perfumed  by  the  violet,  and  enameled,  as  it  were,  with  the 
primrose  and  the  daisy;  to  wander  upon  the  fresh  turf  below 
the  shade  of  trees,  whose  bright  blossoms  are  filled  with  the  music 
of  the  bee;  and  on  the  surface  of  the  waters  to  view  the  gaudy 
flies  sparkling  like  animated  gems  in  the  sunbeams,  whilst  the 
bright  and  beautiful  trout  is  watching  them  from  below;  to  hear 
the  twittering  of  the  water-birds,  who,  alarmed  at  your  approach, 
rapidly  hide  themselves  beneath  the  flowers  and  leaves  of  the 
water-lily;  and  as  the  season  advances,  to  find  all  these  objects 
changed  for  others  of  the  same  kind,  but  better  and  brighter,  till 
the  swallow  and  the  trout  contend  as  it  were  for  the  gaudy  May 
fly,  and  till  in  pursuing  your  amusement  in  the  calm  and  balmy 
evening,  you  are  serenaded  by  the  songs  of  the  cheerful  thrush 
.  .  .  performing  the  offices  of  paternal  love,  in  thickets  orna- 
mented with  the  rose  and  woodbine." — Days  of  Fly  Fishing^ 
J828. 


vu 


"  Gentlemen,  let  not  prejudice  prepossess  you.  I  confess  my 
discourse  is  like  to  prove  suitable  to  my  recreation,  calm  and 
quiet.   .   .   .    And  so  much  for  the  prologue  of  what  I  mean  to 


vut 


PREFACE 

^" Don't  give  up  if  you  don't  catch  fish;  the  unsuccessful  trip 
should  whet  your  appetite  to  try  again." — Grover  Cleveland. 

A  PREFACE  is  either  an  excuse  or  an  explanation,  or 
both.  The  Brook  Trout  needs  no  excuse,  and  it  is 
fully  explained  in  the  general  text  of  this  volume.  Nor 
does  the  Angler,  be  he  Determined  or  otherwise,  need 
any  excuse,  because  **our  Saviour  chose  simple  fisher- 
men ...  St.  Peter,  St.  John,  St.  Andrew,  and  St. 
James,  whom  he  inspired,  and  He  never  reproved 
these  for  their  employment  or  calling**  (Izaak  Walton, 
The  Compleat  Angler,  1653).  And  the  Angler — the 
man — ^needs  no  explanation,  though  it  seems  ever 
necessary  to  define  the  word. 

Webster,  himself  a  profound  Angler,  must  have  been 
unconscious  of  his  gentle  bearing,  for  his  definition 
of  "angle"  is  simply:  *'to  fish,'*  and  every  Angler 
knows  that  merely  to  fish — to  go  forth  indifferent  of 
correct  (humane)  tackle,  the  legal  season,  and  ethical 
methods  in  the  pursuit — is  not  the  way  of  the  Angler. 

I  like  the  explanation  of  the  word  by  Genio  C.  Scott ; 
**  Angling,  a  special  kind  of  fishing.** 

The  inspired  landscape  genius  and  the  kalsominer 
who  shellacs  the  artist *s  studio  are  both  painters;  so, 
the  gentle  Angler  with  perfect  tackle  and  the  mere 
hand-line  fish  taker  are  both  fishermen. 

The  Angler   is   the   highest   order  of  fisherman, 


X  Preface 

and  while  all  Anglers  are  fishermen  there  are  many 
fishermen  who  are  not  Anglers. 

''Anglo-Saxon,"  writing  in  the  New  York  Press y 
October  14,  1915,  uses  the  term  "gentleman  Anglers/* 
He  should  have  said  ''gentleman  fishermen"  (Anglers), 
because  all  Anglers  are  gentlemen,  regardless  of  their 
business  calling,  appearance,  personality,  compan- 
ionship, etc.  When  a  man,  fisherman  or  no  fisher- 
man, develops  into  an  Angler  he  must  first  become 
gentle  in  order  to  be  of  the  gentle  art.  "Angling  is 
the  gentle  art '  *  (Walton) .  '  *  The  gentle  art  of  angling ' ' 
(Cotton). 

"If  true  Anglers,"  says  Genio  C.  Scott,  "you  are 
sure  to  be  gentle." 

Peter  Flint  (New  York  Press,  Oct.  15, 1915) :  "Our 
most  successful  Anglers,  amateurs  as  well  as  pro- 
fessionals." 

All  Anglers  are  amateurs,  brother  Peter.  There 
are  no  professional  Anglers,  though  there  are  both 
amateur  and  professional  fishermen,  and  those  fisher- 
men who  are  amateurs  are  Anglers.  The  word 
"amateur  "  seems  to  be  adrift  upon  the  same  bewilder- 
ing tideway  as  the  words  "angler"  and  "angling." 
"Amateur"  hasn't  the  definition  commonly  attributed 
to  it — it  doesn't  signify  inefficiency,  inexperience, 
unpracticality,  etc.,  as  do  the  words  "beginner," 
"neophyte,"  "tyro,"  etc.  An  amateur  in  fishing,  or 
farming,  or  any  other  pastime  or  pursuit,  may  be  far 
more  practical,  more  experienced,  more  proficient,  and 
better  equipped  in  tools  and  paraphernalia  than  a 
professional,  and  he  usually  is  so;  he  is  certainly 
always  so  in  angling. 

Watch  your  word. 

"It  is  the  belief  of  Acker  that  hand-line  fishing  is  as 


Preface 


XI 


good  [as],  if  not  better  than,  the  rod  and  reel  kind." 
(Wandering  Angler,  New  York  Press^  Aug.  17,  1915.) 

Hand-line  fishing,  as  fishing, — though  the  Tuna 
Angling  Club,  of  Santa  Catalina  Island,  California,  is 
bound  to  the  use  of  light  rods  and  fine  reels  and  tells 
us  hand-lines  are  unsportsmanlike  and  detrimental 
to  the  public -interest, — is  good  (Christ  and  His  dis- 
ciples sanctioned  it),  but  to  say  it  is  as  good  as  or 
better  than  rod  and  reel  angling  is  not  convincing. 
The  indifferent  fisher  can't  condemn  angling  in 
praising  common  fishing  with  any  more  reason  than 
he  might  proclaim  against  cricket  playing  in  favoring 
carpentry,  or  vice  versa.  One  might  as  correctly  say 
hand-line  fishing  is  as  good  as  riding,  or  driving,  or 
golf,  or  baseball,  or  canoeing  (of  course  it  is),  for 
fishing  without  rod  and  reel  and  fishing  with  proper 
tackle  are  pursuits  as  distinct  in  character  as  riding  a 
plain  horse  bareback  with  a  rough  halter,  and  strad- 
dling a  gallant  charger  with  neat  bridle  and  saddle;  or 
as  mere  boating  upon  a  refuse  creek,  and  skimming 
the  green  billows  in  a  trim  yacht. 

That  the  fisher's  hand-line  and  the  fisherman's 
net  will  take  more  fish  than  the  Angler's  tackle  is 
not  of  moment,  because  a  stick  of  dynamite  or  a 
cannon  filled  with  leaden  pellets  or  a  boy  with  a 
market  basket  will  take  still  more  fish  than  the  net  and 
hand-line.  Quantity  makes  fishing  *'good"  with  the 
fisherman;  quality  delights  the  Angler.  There  is  no 
objection  to  the  mere  fish-getter  filling  his  boat  with 
fishes  with  or  without  tackle,  but  as  the  jockey  is  sepa- 
rated from  the  sportsman  rider  and  the  sailor  from 
the  yachtsman  so  should  the  quantity  fisher  and  the 
quality  Angler  be  considered  in  contrasting  spheres. 
''What  a  man  brings  home  in  his  heart  after  fishing 


xu 


Preface 


is  of  more  account  than  what  he  brings  in  his  basket, " 
says  W.  J.  Long.  "Anglers  encourage  the  adoption  of 
angling  methods/'  says  Dr.  Van  Dyke,  "which  make 
the  wholesale  slaughter  of  fishes  impossible  and  in- 
crease the  sport  of  taking  a  fair  number  in  a  fair  way.** 
As  chivalric  single-missile  bow-and-arrow  exercise 
dignifies  archery  above  bunch-arrow  work  in  war,  so 
the  gentle  use  of  refined  tackle  dignifies  angling  above 
mere  fish  getting.  Trap  shooting  is  deHghtful,  and 
more  birds  are  killed  than  the  gunner  would  bag  in 
marsh  and  meadow,  but  is  trap  shooting  therefore 
more  "good"  than  game-shooting  in  the  glorious 
fields  and  forests?  No,  sir;  and  though  the  hand-line 
fisherman  may  honestly  take  half  the  ocean's  yield, 
still  his  pursuit  and  his  catch  cannot  equal  and  can- 
not be  legitimately  compared  to  the  code  and  the 
creel  of  the  competent  Angler. 

C.  B. 

Richmond  Hill, 

Long  Island,  N.  Y., 

March,  igi6> 


AUTHOR'S  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The  article  ''Fly  Fishing  for  Trout/'  I  contributed 
in  its  original  form  to  Sports  Afield^  Mr.  Claude 
King's  Western  journal. 

_The  article  ''Trout  and  Trouting, "  as  I  originally- 
prepared  it,  was  entitled  "Near-by  Trout  Streams," 
and  was  written  for  and  published  in  Outingy  when  I 
was  field  editor  of  that  delightful  magazine. 

"Trouting  in  Canadensis  Valley"  is  rewritten  from 
a  little  story  of  mine  penned  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
noted  angler  and  ichthyologist,  the  late  William  C. 
Harris,  and  published  by  him  in  his  The  American 
Angler  when  I  became  his  managing  editor. 

"Trout  Flies,  Artificial  and  Natural"  and  "The 
Brook  Trout  Incognito"  are  elaborations  of  studies 
I  composed  for  Forest  and  Stream. 

And  many  of  the  items  in  "Little  Casts,"  etc.,  are 
from  a  collection  of  paragraphs  I  have  contributed 
to  the  New  York  Herald,  the  New  York  Press,  and 
various  sporting  periodicals  in  past  years. 

The  extracts  from  the  article  by  Willis  Boyd  Allen 
are  reprinted  by  permission  of  Scribner's  Magazine, 

For  the  little  pen-and-ink  sketches  I  am  indebted 
to  our  jovial  artist,  Leppert. 

The  picture,  "Taking  the  Fly,"  is  a  reproduc- 
tion from  an  etching  in  my  possession,  presented 
to  me  by  Mr.  William  M.  Carey,  whose  etchings 
and  paintings  in  oil  are  well  known  to  American 
sportsmen. 

"The  Fly  Rod's  Victim"  is  reproduced  from  a 


xiv       AxitKor's  AcKno^wledgments 

photograph  framed  in  birch  bark  and  presented  to 
me  by  the  poet,  Isaac  McLellan. 

''The  Brook  Trout'*  illustration  is  from  a  pho- 
tograph of  a  captive  specimen  in  an  aquarium,  the 
engraving  being  loaned  me  by  the  late  John  P. 
Burkhard. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

I. — The  Holy  Anglers 

II. — Histories  of  the   Trouts — How 
THE  Angler  Takes  them 

III. — The  Angler  and  the  Fisherman 

IV. — Fly-Fishing 

V. — Walton^s  Way    '. 

VI. — The  Wanton  Way 

VII. — Fly-Fishing  for  Trout 

VIII. — The  Angler's  Prayer — Save  the 
Woods  and  Waters 

IX. — Trout  and  Trouting  . 

X. — Trouting  in  Canadensis  Valley 

XI. — The  Trouter's  Outfit 

XII. — Trout     Flies,     Artificial     and 
Natural 

XIII.— The  Brook  Trout's  Rival 

XIV. — Trout  on  Barbless  Hooks 


7 
15 
21 

33 
38 
41 

52 
56 
64 
68 

71 
84 
87 


XVI 


Contents 


XV.- 

XVI.- 

XVII.- 

XVIII.- 

XIX.- 

XX.- 

XXI.- 

XXII.- 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV.- 

XXVI.- 

XXVII.- 
XXVIII.- 


PAGE 

-The  Brook  Trout  Incognitc 

)                .             92 

-Hooking  the  Trout    . 

.       102 

-Doctor  Nature  . 

.       104 

-The  Brook  Trout 

•       106 

-The  Angler 

V      •     "2 

■Angling 

.    119 

-Trout  Flies 

.    133 

-Casting  the  Fly 

.    138 

-Tackle  Talks 

.    142 

-The  Angler*s  Kitchen 

•    149 

-Care  and  Breeding  of  Trol 

rT       .     151 

-The    Angler's    Clothing 

AND 

Footwear 

•       153 

-Little  Casts 

.       155 

-Borrowed  Lines 

.       157 

ILLUSTRATIONS 


A  Morning's  Catch  of  Trout  near  Spokane, 
Washington      ....     Frontispiece 

Brook  Trout 8 

Malma  (Dolly  Varden)  Trout  .         •         .  8 

Lake  (Mackinaw)  Trout    .         .         •         .  8 

Oquassa  (Blue-Back)  Trout       .         .         .  lo 

Brown  Trout lo 

Yellowstone  Trout lo 

Saibling  Trout  (Long-Fin  Charr)       .         .  lo 

Rainbow  Trout 12 

Lake  Tahoe  Trout 12 

Steel-Head  Trout       .         .         .         .         .12 

An  Unusual  Way  of  Taking  the  Fly         .  46 

The  Trout  Brook 66 


The  Determined  Angler 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  HOLY  ANGLERS 

"The  greater  number  of  them  [Christ's  disciples]  were  found 
together,  fishing,  by  Jesus,  after  His  Resurrection." — Izaak 
Walton. 

"...  certain  poor  fishermen  coming  in  very  weary  after  a 
night  of  toil  (and  one  of  them  very  wet  after  swimming  ashore) 
found  their  Master  standing  on  the  bank  of  the  lake  waiting  for 
them.  But  it  seems  that  He  must  have  been  busy  in  taeir 
behalf  while  he  was  waiting;  for  there  was  a  bright  fire  of  coals 
on  the  shore,  and  a  goodly  fish  broiHng  thereon,  and  bread  to  eat 
with  it.  And  when  the  Master  had  asked  them  about  their  fishing 
he  said:  'Come,  now,  and  get  your  breakfast.'  So  they  sat  down 
around  the  fire,  and  with  His  own  hands  he  served  them  with 
the  bread  and  the  fish." — Henry  van  Dyke. 

"The  first  men  that  our  Saviour  dear 
Did  choose  to  wait  upon  Him  here, 
Blest  fishers  were.  ..." 

W.  Basse. 

"I  would  .  .  .  fish  in  the  sky  whose  bottom  is  pebbly  with 
stars. " — Thoeeau. 

The  principal  fishes  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  to-day  are 
the  same  as  they  were  two  thousand  years  ago — 


2  TKe  Determined  Angler 

bream  and  chub.  These  were  taken  in  olden  times 
by  both  net  and  hook  and  line. 

The  fishermen  whom  Christ  chose  as  His  disciples — 
Peter,  Andrew,  James,  and  John — were  professional 
net  fishermen,  but  hook  and  line  fishing  was  a  favorite 
pastime  of  the  well-to-do  Egyptians  as  well  as  the 
poor  people  who  could  not  afford  a  net. 

Weirs  not  unlike  the  modern  article  were  used  in 
the  Holy  Land  in  Bible  time,  excepting  on  Lake 
Gennesaret,  where  the  law  of  the  land  forbade  them. 

The  bream  and  the  chub  were  eaten  alike  by  rich 
and  poor  people.  Wayfarers  roasted  them  over  chip 
fires  in  the  groves  and  on  the  lake  shores,  housewives 
boiled  and  broiled  them,  and  the  wealthy  man  served 
them  at  his  banquets.  **  Moses,  the  friend  of  God," 
writes  Izaak  Walton,  in  his  immortal  Compleat  Angler y 
quoting  from  Lev.  xi.,  9,  Deut.,  xiv.,  9,  "appointed 
fish  to  be  the  chief  diet  for  the  best  commonwealth 
that  ever  yet  was.  The  mightiest  feasts  have  been  of 
fish.'^ 

Our  Saviour  *'fed  the  people  on  fish  when  they  were 
hungry."  The  species  is  not  alluded  to  in  the  Biblical 
paragraph,  but  no  doubt  the  fish  feasts  of  the  Lord 
were  mostly  of  chub  and  bream.  Jesus  loved  fishermen 
and  was  in  their  society  most  of  His  time.  No  other 
class  of  men  were  so  well  favored  by  Him.  He  inspired 
St.  Peter,  St.  John,  St.  Andrew,  and  St.  James,  poor 
fishermen,  who  drew  their  nets  for  the  people,  and  these 
four  fishermen,  declares  Father  Izaak,  '*  He  never 
reproved  for  their  employment  or  calling,  as  he  did 
scribes  and  money  changers." 

The  Lord^s  favorite  places  of  labor  and  repose — 
the  places  He  most  frequented — were  near  the  fishes 
and  fisherman.    **He  began  to  teach  by  the  seaside. 


THe  Holy  Anglers  3 

His  pulpit  was  a  fishing  boat  or  the  shore  of  a  lake. 
He  was  in  the  stern  of  the  boat,  asleep.  He  was 
always  near  the  water  to  cheer  and  comfort  those  who 
followed  it.**  And  Walton  tells  us  that  *'when  God 
intended  to  reveal  high  notions  to  His  prophets  He 
carried  them  to  the  shore,  that  He  might  settle  their 
mind  in  a  quiet  repose." 

Bream  and  chub  are  not  monster  fishes — they  do 
not  average  the  great  weights  of  the  tarpon  and  the 
tuna;  they  are  of  the  small  and  medium-size  species; 
so,  if  the  apostles  were  pleased  with  **ye  gods  and  little 
fishes,"  we  mortals  of  to-day  should  be  satisfied  with 
our  catch,  be  it  ever  so  small. 


APPELLATIONS  OF  THE  TROUTS 

Trout,  Bear:  See  Lake  Trout 
Trout,  Beardslee:  See  Crescent  Lake  Blue-Back 
Trout,  Black-spotted  Salmon 
Trout,  Blue-Back:  See  Oquassa  Trout 
Trout,  Brook 
Trout,  Brown 

Trout,  Canada:  See  Greenland  Trout 

Trout,  Canada  Sea:  See  Brook  Trout  and  Greenland  Trout 
Trout,  Colorado  River:  See  Black-Spotted 
Trout,  Columbia  River:  See  Black-Spotted 
Trout,  Cousin:  See  Roach 
Trout,  Crescent  Lake  Blue-Back 
Trout,  Crescent  Lake  Long-Headed 
Trout,  Crescent  Lake  Speckled 
Trout,  Dolly  Varden:  See  Malma  Trout 
Trout,  Dublin  Pond 
Trout,  European  Brown 
Trout,  Fresh- Water  Cod:    See  Lake  Trout 
Trout,  Golden:  See  Rainbow  Salmon  Trout  and  Sunapee 
Trout,  Great  Lakes:  See  Mackinaw 
Trout,  Green:  See  Black  Bass 
Trout,  Green-Back 
Trout,  Greenland 

Trout,  Hard-Head:  See  Steel-Head  Salmon  Trout 
Trout,  Jordan 

Trout,  Kansas  River:  See  Kansas  River  Salmon  Trout 
Trout,  Kern  River:  See  Rainbow 
Trout,  Lac  de  Marbre 
Trout,  Lake 

Trout,  Lake  Salmon:  See  Lake  Trout 
Trout,  Lake  Southerland  Salmon 
Trout,  Lake  Southerland  Spotted:  See  Jordan's  Trout 

4 


Appellations  of  tKe  Trouts  5 

Trout,  Lake  Tahoe:  See  Lake  Tahoe  Salmon  Trout 

Trout,  Lewis:  See  Yellowstone  Trout 

Trout,  Loch  Leven 

Trout,  Lunge:  See  Lake  Trout 

Trout,  Mackinaw:  See  Mackinaw  Lake  Trout 

Trout,  Mackinaw  Lake 

Trout,  Malma 

Trout,  Marston:  See  Lac  de  Marbre  Trout 

Trout,  Mountain:  See  Brook  Trout,  Small-Mouth  Black  Bass, 

and  Rainbow  Salmon  Trout 
Trout,  Mt.  Whitney:  See  Rainbow 
Trout,  Mucqua  Lake:  See  Lake  Trout 
Trout,  Namaycush:  See  Lake  Trout 
Trout,  Namaycush  Lake 
Trout,  Nissuee:  See  Rainbow 
Trout,  Noshee:  See  Rainbow 
Trout,  Oquassa 

Trout,  Pickerel:  See  Long  Island  Pickerel 
Trout,  Pickerel:  See  Long  Island  Pickerel 
Trout,  Pike:  See  Long  Island  Pickerel 
Trout,  Pike:  See  Long  Island  Pickerel 
Trout,  Rainbow:  See  Rainbow  Salmon  Trout 
Trout,  Rainbow  Lake:  See  Rainbow  Salmon  Trout 
Trout,  Red:  See  Lac  de  Marbre  Trout 
Trout,  Red-Spotted:  See  Malma  Trout 
Trout,  Rio  Grande:  See  Rio  Grande  Salmon  Trout 
Trout,  Rio  Grande  Salmon 
Trout,  Saibling 
Trout,  Salmon 

Trout,  Sea:  See  Greenland  Trout  and  Brook  Trout 
Trout,  Silver:  See  Black-Spotted  Sahnon  Trout  and  Lake  Tahoe 

Salmon  Trout 
Trout,  Siskawitz:  See  Lake  Trout 
Trout,  Siscowet:  See  Lake  Trout 
Trout,  Stone's:  See  Rainbow 
Trout,  Sunapee 
Trout,  Tahoe 

Trout,  Togue:  See  Lake  Trout 
Trout,  Truckee:  See  Lake  Tahoe 
Trout,  Tuladi:  See  Lake  Trout 
Trout,  Utah 


6  TKe  Determined  Angler 

Trout,  Waha  Lake:  See  Waha  Lake  Salmon  Trout 

Trout,  Waha  Lake  Salmon 

Trout,  Western  Oregon  Brook:  See  Rainbow 

Trout,  White:  See  Sunapee 

Trout,  Winipiseogee :  See  Lake  Trout 

Trout,  Yellow-Fin 

Trout,  Yellowstone 


CHAPTER    II 

HISTORIES  OF  THE  TROUTS — HOW  THE  ANGLER  TAKES 

THEM 

Trout,  Brook  (Speckled  Trout,  Mountain  Trout, 
Fontinalis,  Speckled  Beauty,  Spotted  Trout,  etc.): 
Caught  in  the  spring  and  summer  in  clear  streams, 
lakes,  and  ponds,  on  the  artificial  fly.  Favors  eddies, 
riffles,  pools,  and  deep  spots  under  the  banks  of  the 
stream  and  near  rocks  and  fallen  trees.  Feeds  on 
small  fish,  flies,  and  worms.  Breeds  in  the  autumn. 
Weighs  up  to  ten  pounds  in  large  waters.  There  is  a 
record  of  one  weighing  eleven  pounds.  This  specimen 
was  taken  in  northwestern  Maine.  Averages  three 
quarters  of  a  pound  to  one  pound  and  a  half  in  the 
streams,  and  one  pound  to  three  pounds  in  the  lakes 
and  ponds.  Occurs  between  latitude  323^°  and  55°, 
in  the  lakes  and  streams  of  the  Atlantic  watershed, 
near  the  sources  of  a  few  rivers  flowing  into  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  some  of  the 
southern  affluents  of  Hudson  Bay,  its  range  being 
limited  by  the  western  foothills  of  the  Alleghanies, 
extending  about  three  hundred  miles  from  the  coast, 
except  about  the  Great  Lakes,  in  the  northern  tribu- 
taries of  which  it  abounds.  It  also  inhabits  the  head- 
waters of  the  Chattahoochee,  in  the  southern  spurs  of 
the  Georgia  Alleghanies  and  tributaries  of  the  Catawba 
in  North  Carolina,  and  clear  waters  of  the  great  islands 

7 


8  THe  Determined  Angler 

of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence — Anticosti,  Cape  Breton, 
Prince  Edward,  and  Newfoundland;  and  abounds  in 
New  York,  Michigan,  Connecticut,  Pennsylvania, 
Maine,  Long  Island,  Canada,  Wisconsin,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  Massachusetts.  For  the  larger  specimens 
use  a  six-ounce  fly  rod;  for  the  tiny  mountain  speci- 
mens, a  four-ounce  fly  rod.  Leaders:  Single,  fine, 
and  long.  Reel:  Small  click.  Flies:  6  to  14  on  the 
streams  and  4  to  6  on  the  lakes  and  ponds.  Patterns: 
Quaker,  Oak,  Coachman,  Dark  Stone,  Red  Hackle, 
Blue  Bottle,  Bradford,  Wren,  Cahil,  Brown  Drake, 
Brandreth,  Canada,  Page,  Professor,  Codun,  Dark 
Coachman,  and  the  Palmers — green,  gray,  red,  and 
brown.  Use  dark  colors  on  bright  days  and  early  in 
the  season;  lighter  shades  on  dark  days,  in  the  evening, 
and  as  the  season  grows  warmer. 

Trout,  Crescent  Lake  Blue-Back  (Salmo  beardsleei) : 
Beardslee  Trout,  etc.  A  deep-water  fish  weighing 
up  to  fourteen  pounds,  found  only  in  Crescent  Lake, 
Washington,  and  taken  during  April,  May,  June,  and 
October,  chiefly  on  the  troll.  Leaps  from  the  water 
when  hooked.  Color:  Upper,  deep  blue  ultramarine; 
lower,  white. 

Trout,  Crescent  Lake  Long-Headed  (Salmo  bath- 
CBcetor) :  Closely  related  to  the  Steel-Head  Trout.  A 
deep-water  fish  of  Lake  Crescent,  Washington,  caught 
only  on  set  lines  within  a  foot  of  the  bottom.  Will  not 
come  to  the  surface;  will  not  take  the  fly  or  trolling 
spoon.  Somewhat  resembles  the  speckled  trout  of  Cres- 
cent Lake,  though  more  slender  and  of  lighter  color. 

Trout,  Crescent  Lake  Speckled  (Salmo  crescentis): 
Closely  resembles  the  Steel-Head.    Weighs  up  to  ten 


Brook  Trout. 


Maima  (Dolly  Varden)  Trout., 


Lake  {Mackinaw)  Trout, 


Histories  of  tKe  Trouts  9 

pounds.    Pound  in  Crescent  Lake,  Washington.    An 
excellent  game  fish. 

Trout,  Dublin  Pond  {Salvelinus  agassizii):  In- 
habitant of  Center  and  Dublin  Pond  and  Lake  Monad- 
nock,  etc.,  New  Hampshire.  Differs  from  the  Brook 
Trout  in  being  pale  gray  in  color  and  more  slender. 
Reaches  a  length  of  eight  inches.    Brook  Trout  tackle. 

Trout,  Green-Back  {Salmo  stomias):  A  small 
black-spotted  species,  inhabiting  the  head  waters  of 
the  Arkansas  and  Platte  rivers;  abundant  in  brooks, 
streams,  and  shallow  parts  of  lakes.  Common  in  the 
waters  near  Leadville  and  in  Twin  Lakes,  Colorado, 
in  company  with  the  Yellow-Fin  Trout,  which  see. 
Weighs  up  to  one  pound. 

Trout,  Greenland  (Canada  Sea  Trout) :  Caught  in 
midsummer  on  medium  Brook  Trout  tackle  in  Labra- 
dor, the  rivers  of  considerable  size  in  Canada,  and  the 
lakes  of  Greenland.  Rivals  the  Atlantic  Salmon  in 
size,  and  is  a  fine  sporting  species.  Averages  two 
pounds  in  weight.  It  frequents  the  sandy  pits  that 
are  uncovered  at  half -tide.  Higher  up  the  rivers  it  is 
found  in  the  pools. 

Trout,  Jordan's  {Salmo  jar dani):  Lake  Southerland 
Spotted  Trout,  etc.  Inhabits  Lake  Southerland, 
west  of  Puget  Sound.  Caught  on  the  artificial  fly  as 
late  as  October,  and  is  a  great  leaper.  Is  black- 
spotted.  Resembles  the  Utah  Trout  in  color  and  the 
Steel-head  Trout  in  shape. 

Trout,  Kamloops  (Salmo  kamloops):  Stit-tse,  etc. 
A  form  of  the  Steel-Head.     Abounds  in  Okanogan, 


lo  THe  Determined  Angler 

Kamloops,  Kootenai  lakes,  and  other  waters  tributary 
to  the  Frazer  and  upper  Columbia  rivers.  Taken 
chiefly  on  the  troll.  A  large,  gamy,  graceful,  slender 
fish.    Color:  Dark  olive  above,  bright  silvery  below. 

Trout,  Lac  de  Marbre  (Salvelinusmarstoni) :  Marston 
Trout,  etc.  Found  in  Lac  de  Marbre,  near  Ottawa, 
the  lakes  of  the  Lake  St.  John  district,  Lac  a  Cassette 
in  Rimouski  county,  and  Lake  Soccacomi  and  the  Red 
Lakes  in  Maskinonge  County,  Canada.  Takes  the 
fly  readily.  Color:  Upper,  dark  brown;  below,  whitish 
pink  unspotted.    Reaches  a  length  of  one  foot. 

Trout,  Lake  (Togue,  Fresh-Water  Cod,  Tuladi, 
Lunge,  etc.):  Caught  on  medium  tackle  with  the 
troll  and  minnow  bait  in  deep  water,  and,  early  in  the 
season,  near  the  surface,  the  young  rising  to  artificial 
trout  flies  in  rapid  water.  Occurs  in  all  the  great  lakes 
of  New  Brunswick  and  in  many  similar  waters  in 
Maine.  Attains  a  weight  of  twenty-one  pounds. 
Haunts  deep  water  as  a  rule,  though  often  steals  to 
the  shoals  and  shores  in  search  of  food,  small  fish, 
early  in  the  morning  and  at  twilight. 

Trout,  Lake  (Siscowet,  Siskawitz):  Caught  on 
medium  tackle  and  small-fish  bait  along  the  north 
shores  of  Lake  Superior.  Haunts  deep  water  and  feeds 
upon  a  species  of  sculpin.  Attains  a  weight  of  thirty 
pounds;  averages  four  pounds.  Its  habits  closely 
resemble  those  of  the  Mackinaw  Lake  Trout. 

Trout,  Lake  (Mucqua,  Bear  Trout,  etc.) :  Caught 
in  deep  water  on  medium  tackle  and  small-fish  bait 
on  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Superior.     Closely  re- 


Brown  Trout. 


Yellowstone  Trout. 


Saibling  Trout  {Long-fin  Charr). 


Histories  of  tKe  Trovits  II 

sembles  the  Siscowet  Lake  Trout  of  the  same  lake,  if 
it  is  not,  as  many  think,  merely  a  local  variety  of  the 
same  form. 

Trout,  Lake  (Winipiseogee  Trout):  Caught  on 
medium  tackle  and  small-fish  bait  in  Lake  Winipiseo- 
gee and  supposedly  in  Lake  George. 

Trout,  Lake  (Mackinaw  Trout,  Namaycush,  Lake 
Salmon,  Salmon  Trout,  etc.) :  Caught  with  medium 
tackle  on  the  troll  and  with  minnow  bait  in  deep 
water  in  the  chain  of  Great  Lakes  from  Superior  to 
Ontario,  also  in  Lake  Champlain,  New  York,  and 
other  lakes  of  the  United  States  and  British  America, 
occurring  also  to  the  northeastward,  in  Mackinaw 
River  and  in  the  Knowall  River,  Alaska.  Is  known 
as  Mackinaw  Trout  in  Lakes  Huron,  Michigan,  and 
Superior,  and  as  Lake  Salmon  and  Salmon  Trout  in 
the  lakes  of  northern  New  York.  Is  said  to  at- 
tain a  weight  of  ninety  pounds  and  a  length  of  six 
feet. 

Trout,  Malma  (Dolly  Varden  Trout,  Bull  Trout, 
Speckled  Trout,  Lake  Trout,  Red-Spotted  Trout, 
Salmon  Trout,  Chewagh,  etc.):  Caught  on  Brook 
Trout  tackle  in  fresh  water  and  Black  Bass  tackle  in 
the  ocean.  Occurs  in  northern  California,  west  of  the 
Cascade  Range,  throughout  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and 
northward  to  Colville  River  in  Alaska,  and  is  not 
unknown  at  Behring  Island,  and  Plover  Bay,  Siberia. 
Taken  in  the  sea  it  is  called  Salmon  Trout;  in  the 
lakes  it  is  called  by  all  the  names  parenthesized  above. 
In  salt  water  it  feeds  upon  shrimp,  smelt,  young 
trout,  sand  lance,  anchovy,  herring,  etc. ;  in  fresh  water 


12  TKe  Determined  Angler 

small  fish,  worms,  etc.  Weighs  up  to  fourteen  pounds 
in  the  ocean;  averages  smaller  in  the  lakes. 

Trout,  Oquassa  (Blue-Back  Trout):  Caught  on 
Brook  Trout  tackle  in  the  lakes  of  western  Maine, 
New  York,  and  New  Hampshire.  Attains  a  length  of 
ten  inches. 

Trout,  Saibling:    Caught  on  Brook  Trout  tackle  in 

Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Hampshire,  and 
Wisconsin.  A  native  of  northwestern  Europe,  in- 
troduced in  American  Brook  Trout  waters. 

Trout,  Sunapee  {Salvelinus  aureolus):  American 
Saibling,  White  Trout,  Golden  Trout,  Charr,  etc.  A 
native  of  Sunapee  Lake,  N.  H.,  and  Flood  Pond, 
Ellsworth,  Maine,  now  being  introduced  in  other  lakes. 
Favors  deep  water;  takes  live  bait.  Weighs  up  to 
twelve  pounds. 

Trout,  Utah  {Salmo  virginalis):  Abounds  in  the 
streams  and  lakes  of  Utah  west  of  the  Wasatch  Moun- 
tains— ^in  Utah  Lake  and  the  Sevier,  Jordan,  Bear,  and 
Provo  rivers.    Weighs  up  to  twelve  pounds. 

Trout,  Yellow-Fin  {Salmo  macdonaldi) :  Found  in 
Twin  Lakes,  Colorado,  in  company  with  the  Green- 
Back  Trout,  from  which  it  is  distinct  in  color,  habits, 
and  size.  Weighs  up  to  nine  pounds.  Is  caught  on 
the  artificial  fly  and  with  the  troll.  Favors  gravel 
bottom  in  deep  water. 

Trout,  Yellowstone  {Salmo  lewisi):  Abundant  in 
Yellowstone  Lake,   Wyoming,   and  throughout  the 


Rainbow  Trout. 


Lake  Tahos  Trout. 


Steel-head  Trout. 


Histories  of  tHe  Troxits  13 

Snake  River  Basin  above  Shoshone  Falls,  and  the 
headwaters  of  the  Missouri. 

Salmon  Trout,  Black-Spotted  (Silver  Trout,  Black 
Trout,  Black-Spotted  Trout,  Preestl,  etc.):  Caught 
on  the  artificial  fly  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  the 
lakes  of  New  Mexico,  Utah,  Western  Colorado,  Wyom- 
ing, Idaho,  Montana,  Oregon,  and  Washington.  The 
young  are  abundant  in  Puget  Sound,  and  are  occasion- 
ally taken  along  the  California  coast.  Weighs  up  to 
thirty  pounds. 

Salmon  Trout,  Brown  (Brown  Trout,  etc.) :  Caught 
on  the  artificial  fly  practically  the  same  as  Brook 
Trout  are  taken.  Same  rods,  tackle,  and  flies.  In- 
troduced in  this  country  from  Europe.  Weighs  up  to 
twenty  pounds. 

Salmon  Trout,  Kansas  River:  Caught  on  Brook 
Trout  tackle  from  the  Kansas  River  to  the  upper 
Missouri.    Reaches  twenty-four  inches  in  length. 

Salmon  Trout,  Lake  Southerland  {Salmo  declivi- 
frons):  Found  only  in  Lake  Southerland.  Reaches 
a  length  of  ten  inches;  is  very  gamy;  takes  the  fly,  and 
leaps. 

Salmon  Trout,  Lake  Tahoe  (Lake  Tahoe  Trout,  Sil- 
ver Trout,  Black  Trout,  etc.) :  Caught  in  Lake  Tahoe, 
Pyramid  Lake,  and  the  streams  of  the  Sierra  Nevada 
on  Brook  Trout  tackle.    Weighs  up  to  twenty  pounds. 

Salmon  Trout,  Loch  Leven  (Loch  Leven  Trout,  etc.) : 
Introduced  to  this  country  from  Europe,  in  streams  in 


14  THe  Determined  Angler 

Michigan,  Maine,  and  other  States.    Is  taken  on  the 
artificial  fly  the  same  as  Brook  Trout. 

Salmon  Trout,  Rainbow  (Rainbow  Trout,  Golden 
Trout,  Golden  Salmon,  Brook  Trout,  Speckled  Trout, 
Mountain  Trout,  etc.):  Caught  with  the  artificial 
fly  in  fresh  streams  and  salt  rivers.  Occurs  from  near 
the  Mexican  line  to  Oregon  and  has  been  successfully 
introduced  in  the  Eastern  and  Northern  States,  where 
it  is  taken  upon  ordinary  Brook  Trout  tackle — light 
fly  rod,  fine  leader,  click  reel,  etc.  Flies,  same  as  those 
flailed  for  Brook  Trout.  Season:  Same  as  Brook 
Trout.    Weighs  up  to  six  pounds. 

Salmon  Trout,  Rio  Grande :  Abundant  in  the  head- 
waters of  the  Rio  Grande,  Rio  Colorado,  and  their 
tributaries;  occurs  in  Bear  River  and  the  streams  of 
Utah. 

Salmon  Trout,  Steel-Head  (Hard-Head,  Steel- 
Head  Trout,  etc.) :  Caught  mostly  in  nets.  Reaches 
a  weight  of  twenty-two  pounds.  Found  along  the 
Pacific  coast  from  the  Sacramento  River  northward 
to  Alaska.  Abundant  in  the  Columbia  and  Frazer 
rivers  in  the  spring.    Inhabits  river-mouths. 

Salmon  Trout,  Waha  Lake  (Waha  Lake  Trout,  etc.) : 
Caught  on  Brook  Trout  tackle.  A  local  form  of  the 
Black-Spotted  Salmon  Trout,  found  in  Waha  Lake,  a 
landlocked  mountain  tarn  in  Washington. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  ANGLER  AND  THE  FISHERMAN 

One  profound  proof  of  the  soundness  in  the  philo- 
sophy that  teaches  against  wantonly  wasteful  slaugh- 
ter in  the  chase  is  the  disinclination  on  the  part  of 
certain  so-called  sportsmen — a  vulgar  gentry  that 
resort  to  the  woods  and  waters  solely  because  it  is 
fashionable  to  do  so — and  their  guides  to  honorably 
dispose  of  their  game  after  the  killing.  These  greedy 
snobs  are  viciously  adverse  to  losing  a  single  bird  or 
fish  in  the  pursuit,  but  they  think  little  of  letting  the 
game  rot  in  the  sun  after  the  play.  With  this  fact 
easily  provable  any  day  in  the  year,  it  may  be  said 
that  outside  of  market  fishing  and  camp  fishing  for 
the  pot  the  one  real  object  in  fishing  and  angling  is  the 
pursuit  itself  and  not  the  quarry. 

In  baseball,  it's  the  game,  not  the  bases;  in  archery, 
it's  the  straightest  shooting,  not  the  target.  True,  we 
play  cards  for  prizes,  but  surely  as  much  for  the  game 
itself,  not  altogether  for  the  prizes,  because  it  is  pos- 
sible to  buy  the  prizes  or  their  equivalent  outright  or 
take  the  prizes  by  force. 

My  bayman  develops  fits  bordering  closely  upon 
incurable  hysteria  if  I  lose  a  single  bluefish  in  the  play, 
but  he  worries  not  when  he  goes  ashore  with  a  sloopful 
of  hand-liners  and  half  a  hundred  fish  he  cannot  make 
good  use  of. 

15 


i6  THe  Determined  Angler 

''Pull  it  in!  youll  lose  it!'*  "We  could  catch  a 
hundred  if  you  wouldn't  fool!"  "The  other  boats'll 
beat  us  badly!"  "There's  a  million  right  'round  the 
boat!" 

These  are  a  few  of  his  excitable  expressions.  But, 
when  I  say  to  him,  "What's  the  difference,  Captain, 
in  losing  one  or  two  fish  here  and  wasting  half  a 
hundred  on  shore?'*  he  calms  down  for  a  minute  or 
two.  Only  for  a  minute  or  two,  however,  for  he's  in 
the  game  solely  for  fish,  not  the  fishing.  It's  all 
numbers  and  size  with  him,  and  he's  encouraged  in 
this  greed  by  nine  out  of  every  ten  men  he  takes 
aboard  his  boat. 

"We  caught  fifty,"  says  Tom. 

"We  caught  a  hundred  and  ten, "  says  Dick. 

"We  caught  two  hundred  and  sixty, "  says  Harry. 
"And  so  the  bayman  brags,  too,  because  it's  purely 
business  with  him. 

I  have  always  found  the  greatest  pleasure  in  fishing 
is  the  fishing  and  not  the  blood  and  bones  associated 
with  the  pursuit.  I  would  rather  take  five  fair  fish  on 
fine  tackle  correctly  manipulated  than  fill  the  hold 
with  a  hundred  horrid  monsters  mastered  by  mere 
strength,  as  in  hand-line  trolling  for  bluefish  in  the 
ocean  and  for  muskellonge,  etc.,  in  fresh  water. 

"But,"  says  Captain  Getemanyway,  "I  can  catch 
more  fish  with  a  hand-line  than  you  can  with  your 
fine  rod  and  reel." 

"Of  course  you  can, "  I  reply,  ** and  you  could  catch 
more  if  you  used  a  net,  a  stick  of  dynamite,  or  a  shot- 
gun." 

If  it's  the  fish  alone  that  is  the  object  of  the  Angler's 
eye,  why  resort  to  any  sort  of  tackle  when  there's  a 
fish  stall  in  every  bailiwick? 


TKe  Angler  and  tKe  FisKerman     17 

There  is  great  need  of  enlightenment  in  the  common 
ethics  of  angHng.  Many  persons  are  under  the  im- 
pression that  quantity  rather  than  quaUty  makes  the 
Angler^s  day. 

According  to  their  view  of  the  pursuit,  fishing  is 
judged  by  figures,  as  in  finance — glory  to  the  man 
with  the  biggest  balance.  This  is  not  so,  because  with 
this  view  accepted,  Rockefeller  would  shine  above 
Christ,  Shakespeare,  and  Lincoln. 

The  mere  catch— the  number  of  fish  taken — is  only 
one  little  detail ;  it  is  not  all  of  angling.  If  it  were,  the 
superior  fisherman  would  be  the  man  who  got  his  fish 
in  any  manner. 

Some  of  our  greatest  Anglers  purposely  never  excel 
in  the  matter  of  numbers.  The  Angler's  true  qualities 
are  based  on  the  application  of  correct  tackle,  correct 
methods  in  fishing,  and  a  correct  appreciation  of  the 
pursuit,  the  game,  the  day,  and  the  craft. 

'Tis  the  day  and  the  play,  not  the  heads  and  hides 
that  count. 

An  ancient  writer  says  of  the  royal  hounds:  **The 
hunter  loves  to  see  the  hounds  pursue  the  hare,  and  he 
is  glad  if  the  hare  escapes.'*  So  it  is  in  angling;  we  do 
not  wish  to  catch  all  the  fish  we  can  take  in  any  fashion. 
We  want  to  take  some  of  them  in  a  proper  manner 
with  appropriate  implements. 

*'I  can  catch  more  trout  with  the  angleworm  and 
more  bass  with  the  trolling  spoon  than  you  can  with 
the  artificial  fly, "  says  Robert. 

** Of  course  you  can,  Robert, "  say  I,  ''and  you  could 
catch  still  more  if  you  spread  a  screen  across  the  tiny 
stream  or  set  a  trap,  or  if  you  used  a  set  line  with  a 
hundred  hooks,  just  as  the  target  shooter  might  more 
readily  puncturethe  circle  with  a  charge  of  shot  than 


l8  XKe  Determined  Angler 

with  the  single  bullet,  or  just  as  the  greedyman  with  a 
blunderbuss  might  excel  in  number  the  wing  shot  by 
potting  quail  bunched  on  the  ground  instead  of  chival- 
rously bagging  single  birds  on  the  wing  with  a  perti- 
nent arm. 

The  neophyte  always  confounds  the  angler  with  the 
indiscriminate  fisherman  and  so  implicates  the  angler 
in  the  cruelty  and  wastefulness  associated  with  mere 
chance  fishing,  when  in  fact  the  Angler  is  the  real 
propagator  and  protector  of  the  fishes,  and  is  in  no 
sense  cruel  or  wasteful. 

The  laws  that  prohibit  greedy  catches,  and  protect 
the  mother  fish  in  breeding  time,  are  made  by,  enforced 
by,  and  supported  financially  by  the  Angler. 

The  rearing  of  the  fishes  that  are  placed  in  depleted 
waters  was  originated  by,  is  conducted  by,  and  is  paid 
for  by  the  Angler. 

No  other  class  has  earnestly  bothered  its  head, 
honestly  lifted  its  hands,  or  liberally  opened  its  purse 
in  these  matters,  and  the  nearest  association  man  in 
general  has  with  the  preservation  of  both  wild  fish 
and  fowl  is  in  uttering  a  cowardly,  false  accusation 
against  the  one  who  really  deserves  sole  credit  for  the 
work,  the  sportsman,  the  genuine  field  sportsman,  not 
the  vicious  sporting  man  of  the  race  track,  cockpit, 
and  gambling  den — two  distinct  species  of  animal,  as 
vastly  separated  in  character  as  the  deerhound  and  the 
dragon. 

And  why  this  charge  against  the  innocent?  Simply 
because  the  guilty  wish  to  shield  and  profit  themselves, 
as  the  thief  cries  fire  that  he  may  pick  your  pocket  in 
the  panic  that  ensues. 

But  then  there  is  a  well  meaning  but  wholly  un- 
enlightened element,  that,  influenced  by  the  cry  of  the 


The  Angler  and  the  Fisherman     19 

methodical  spoiler,  ignorantly  condemns  the  honest 
man — the  really  humane  men  and  women  who  are 
sincere  in  their  condemnation  but  totally  ignorant  of 
their  subject. 

One  of  this  sort,  an  estimable  woman  in  public  life, 
loudly  preaches  against  the  chase  and  is  all  the  time 
drawing  dividends  that  provide  her  with  the  means  to 
indulge  in  the  vulgarest  and  crudest  of  fashionable 
extravagances — among  them  the  wool  of  the  unborn 
lamb,  furs  from  the  backs  of  fast-disappearing  quad- 
rupeds, and  feathers  of  the  farmers*  most  valuable 
insect-destroying  song  birds — and  these  wicked 
dividends  derived  from  several  acid  factories,  a  gas 
house,  a  power  plant,  and  a  dye  works  that  have  not 
only  killed  off  the  trillions  of  fishes  in  several  rivers 
but  destroyed  forever  the  very  habitat  of  the  species ! 

Another  of  this  sort  is  well  exemplified  in  the  char- 
acter of  an  old  gentleman  in  Pennsylvania  who  loudly 
proclaims  against  trout  fishing,  but  who  utterly  ruins 
nearly  eight  miles  of  trout  water,  once  the  home  of 
thousands  of  lordly  fish,  by  permitting  his  mill  hands 
to  run  off  sawdust  in  the  streams. 

This  poor,  ignorant  soul  objects  to  you  and  me  chi- 
valrously taking  half  a  dozen  specimens  on  the  fly — 
catching  the  cunning  trout  with  an  imitation  of  the 
living  thing  itself  destroys  by  the  thousands  for  food 
and  play — while  he  mercilessly  slaughters  the  entire 
immediate  supply,  and  prevents  further  propagation 
of  the  whole  species  with  the  refuse  of  his  forest- 
devastating,  money-making  machine. 

True,'  the  Angler  like  all  fishermen,  and  like  the 
fishes  themselves,  kills  his  specimens,  but  this  killing 
is  ordained  by  nature  herself — at  least  it  has  better 
grounds  for  excuse,  if  excuse  it  needs,  than  that  ten- 


20  TKe  Determined  Angler 

fold  more  destructive  killing  by  the  fishes  that  not  only 
slay  for  food,  but  actually  mutilate  millions  upon 
millions  of  their  kind  for  the  mere  play  afforded  them 
in  this  practice — and  though  the  Angler  may  be  in  the 
wrong  when  he  humanely  dispatches  a  few  of  the 
batch  he  breeds,  he  is  not  as  hopeless  as  the  wanton 
fisher,  or  as  brutal  as  the  unenlightened  * 'reformers,*' 
the  so-called  humane  lady  with  the  fashionable  furs 
and  feathers  of  fast-disappearing  species  she  never 
turns  a  hair  to  replenish  or  protect,  and  the  old 
gentleman  hypocrite  with  his  murderous  sawmill. 


CHAPTER  IV 

FLY-FISHING 

"Of  all  sports,  commend  me  to  angling;  it  is  the  wisest,  vir- 
tuousest,  best. " — Thomas  Hood. 

When  I  go  fishing,  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  catching 
fish;  when  I  go  angling — fly-fishing — it  is  the  soul  I 
seek  to  replenish,  not  the  creel. 

'* One  of  the  charms  of  angling, "  says  Pritt,  "is  that 
it  presents  an  endless  field  for  argument,  speculation, 
and  experiment.'* 

True,  but  Anglers  have  no  argument  in  the  first 
feature  of  their  pastime — the  object  of  it.  Fishermen 
and  men  wfio  do  not  go  fishing  or  angling  argue  that 
the  object  sought  by  the  Angler  is  the  fish,  but  Anglers 
all  agree  that  the  game  is  but  one  of  the  trillion  of 
pleasant  things  that  attract  them  to  the  pursuit  of  it. 

They  argue  and  speculate  and  experiment  in  the 
matter  of  rods  and  tackle,  and  they  argue  as  to 
the  virtues  of  the  various  species,  the  qualities  of  the 
waters,  the  conditions  of  the  weather,  but  they  have 
ever  been  and  ever  will  be  calmly  agreed  as  to  the 
object  of  it  all — the  love  of  studying  rather  than  de- 
stroying the  game,  the  love  of  the  pursuit  itself. 

They  angle  because  of  its  healthfulness,  and  the 
consequent  exhilaration  of  mind  and  body  that 
attends  the  gentle  practice,  not  merely  for  the  fishes 

21 


22  TKe  Determined  Angler 

it  may  procure  them,  or  for  the  sake  of  killing  some- 
thing, as  the  unenlightened  person  charges,  for  the 
death  of  an  animal,  to  the  Angler,  is  the  saddest 
incident  of  his  day. 

All  things  animate,  man  included,  were  made  to  kill 
and  to  be  killed.  The  only  crimes  in  killing  are  in 
killing  our  own  kind,  and  in  killing*  any  kind  in- 
humanly. 

And,  of  all  creatures,  the  Angler  is  the  least  offender 
in  these  crimes.  The  very  game  he  seeks,  though 
beautiful  and  gentle  to  the  eye,  and,  at  times,  noble  in 
deed  and  purpose,  is  the  most  brutal  killer  of  all  the 
races — the  lovely  trout  in  its  attacks  upon  gaudy  flies, 
the  valiant  bass  and  pike  in  devouring  their  smaller 
brethren,  and  the  multitudinous  sea-fishes,  not  alone 
in  their  feeding  upon  one  another,  but  in  their  wanton 
murder  of  the  millions  upon  millions  of  victims  of  their 
pure  love  of  slaughter. 

But,  of  fly-fishing  for  brook  trout: 

''Fly-fishing,''  says  Dr.  Henshall,  '*is  the  poetry  of 
angling";  and  ''the  genuine  Angler/'  says  Frederick 
Pond,  ''is  invariably  a  poet." 

Fly-fishing,  the  highest  order  of  angling,  is  indulged 
in  in  several  forms — in  fresh  water  for  salmon,  trout, 
black  bass,  grayling,  perch,  pike-perch,  pickerel 
(Long  Island  brook  pickerel),  sunfish,  roach,  dace, 
shad,  herring  (branch),  etc.;  in  brackish  water  for 
shad,  trout,  white  perch,  etc.;  and  in  salt  water  for 
bluefish  (young),  herring  (common),  mackerel,  and — 
doubt  not,  kind  sir,  for  I  am  prepared  to  prove  it — 
squeteague(weakfish),  plaice  (fluke,  summer  flounder) , 
and  other  species  of  both  bottom  and  surface  habitats 
— another  "endless  field  for  argument,  speculation, 
and  experiment." 


Fly-FisKing  23 

As  t6ere  are  many  forms  of  fly-fishing,  so  are  there 
many  ways  of  fly-fishing  for  trout,  and  many  kinds  of 
trout,  the  various  forms  of  brook  trout,  lake  trout, 
and  sea  trout. 

Volumes  would  be  required  to  discourse  intelli- 
gently upon  all  these  forms  of  trout  and  fly-fishing  for 
them;  so  I  purpose  in  this  particular  instance  to 
confine  myself  to  one  species  and  one  form  of  trout 
and  one  order  of  fly-fishing. 

The  trout  referred  to  is  the  true  brook  trout,  scien- 
tifically alluded  to  as  Salvelinus  fontinalis  and  com- 
monly called,  besides  brook  trout  (its  most  popular 
name),  speckled  trout,  mountain  trout,  speckled 
beauty,  spotted  trout,  etc. 

The  fly-fishing  treated  of  is  that  popular  form  that  is 
most  indulged  in  by  the  Eastern  trout  fly-fisherman — 
small-stream  fishing  in  the  mountains  and  wooded 
level  lands  that  *' carries  us,"  as  Davy  wrote  as  far 
away  as  1828,  *'into  the  most  wild  and  beautiful 
scenery  of  nature  to  the  clear  and  lovely  streams  that 
gush  from  the  high  ranges  of  elevated  hills.'* 

Above  all  other  styles  of  fly-fishing,  it  calls  for  the 
most  delicate  tackle  and  the  very  daintiest  hand. 

*'How  delightful,'*  says  the  author  of  Salmonia, 
*'in  the  early  spring,  after  the  dull  and  tedious  time  of 
winter,  when  the  frosts  disappear  and  the  sunshine 
warms  the  earth  and  waters,  to  wander  forth  by  some 
clear  stream,  to  see  the  leaf  bursting  from  the  purple 
bud,  to  scent  the  odors  of  the  bank  perfumed  by  the 
violet,  and  enameled,  as  it  were,  with  the  primrose 
and  the  daisy;  to  wander  upon  the  fresh  turf  below 
the  shade  of  trees,  whose  bright  blossoms  are  filled 
with  the  music  of  the  bee;  and  on  the  surface  of  the 
waters  to  view  the  gaudy  flies  sparkling  like  animated 


24  TKe  Determined  Angler 

gems  in  the  sunbeams,  whilst  the  bright  and  beautiful 
trout  is  watching  them  from  below;  to  hear  the  twitter- 
ing of  the  water-birds,  who,  alarmed  at  your  approach, 
rapidly  hide  themselves  beneath  the  flowers  and  leaves 
of  the  water-lily;  and,  as  the  season  advances,  to  find 
all  these  objects  changed  for  others  of  the  same  kind, 
but  better  and  brighter,  till  the  swallow  and  the  trout 
contend  as  it  were  for  the  May  fly,  and  till  in  pursuing 
your  amusement  in  the  calm  and  balmy  evening  you 
are  serenaded  by  the  songs  of  the  cheerful  thrush, 
performing  the  offices  of  paternal  love  in  thickets 
ornamented  with  the  rose  and  woodbine.'' 

The  other  forms  of  fly-fishing  for  trout,  the  pursuit 
of  larger  specimens  of  the  same  species  in  larger  waters, 
the  lakes  and  ponds  and  rivers — all  equally  inviting 
by  their  gentle  requirements  and  the  **  beautiful 
scenery  of  nature" — deserve  special  treatment,  be- 
cause, as  in  fly-fishing  for  salmon  {salmo  salar),  the 
very  top  notch  of  all  forms  of  angling,  the  play,  the 
player,  the  scenes,  and  the  accessories  are  sufficiently 
different  to  confound  the  reader  I  am  mainly  endeav- 
oring to  amuse  with  these  particular  lines. 

Small  stream  fly-fishing  for  brook  trout  belongs  in  a 
class  just  between  fly-fishing  for  the  brook  trout  of 
broader  waters,  the  lakes  and  ponds,  and  fly-fishing 
for  salmon  in  the  lordly  rivers  of  Maine  and  Canada. 

The  brook  trout  is  angled  for  in  the  spring  and 
summer,  principally  with  the  artificial  fly,  and  by  the 
chivalric  Angler  only  with  the  artificial  fly,  though 
many  greedy  fishermen  of  trifling  experience  and 
wholly  deprived  of  the  true  spirit  of  angling — in  that 
they  fish  for  the  fish  alone  and  judge  their  day  and 
play  solely  by  the  size  of  their  catch — contrive  to 
convince  us  that  the  live  lure  is  equally  honorable, 


Fly-FisHin|^  25 

notwithstanding  that  the  cruel,  clumsy,  uncleanly, 
unfair,  wasteful  practice  of  live-bait  trout  fishing  is 
condemned  by  every  truly  gentle  disciple  and 
practical  authority. 

Most  advocates  of  live-bait  trout  fishing,  who  would 
have  us  believe  that  their  method  is  entitled  to  recogni- 
tion in  the  same  category  with  fly-fishing,  proudly 
proclaim  that  this  should  be  because  they  *'can  catch 
more  fish  with  the  worm  or  minnow  than  the  Angler 
can  catch  with  his  fly/' 

If  this  reasoning  is  to  settle  the  debate,  if  killing  and 
quantity  compose  the  Angler's  axiom,  why  not  resort 
to  still  more  productive  means — dynamite,  or  net  the 
stream  instead  of  gently  fishing  it  ? 

No,  the  trout  fiy-fisherman  abhors  trout  bait-fishing 
for  the  same  reason  the  wing  shot  prefers  his  appro- 
priate arm  to  a  cannon;  the  yachtsman,  his  gentle 
craft  to  a  man-o*-war;  the  horseman,  his  trained 
mount  to  a  locomotive;  the  archer,  his  arrow  instead 
of  a  harpoon;  and  so  I  might  go  on  in  similes  that 
would  burlesque  every  form  of  recreative  amusement 
in  the  world. 

The  brook  trout  breeds  in  the  autumn,  favors 
eddies,  riffles,  pools,  and  deep  spots  under  the  banks  of 
the  stream,  and  near  rocks  and  fallen  trees,  and  feeds 
on  flies,  small  fish,  worms,  and  other  small  life  forms. 

Its  shape,  weight,  size,  and  color  are  influenced  by  its 
food,  its  age,  its  activity,  its  habitat,  and  its  habits. 
Its  color  corresponds  to  the  color  of  the  water  bottom 
and  will  change  as  the  water  bottom  changes.  If 
removed -to  a  new  water,  where  the  bottom  color  is 
different  from  the  bottom  color  of  its  first  abode — 
lighter  or  darker,  as  the  case  may  be^ — it  will  gradually 
grow  to  a  corresponding  shade,  blending  with  its  new 


26  THe  Determined  Angler 

habitat  just  as  its  colors  suited  the  stones  and  grasses 
and  earthy  materials  of  its  native  domain. 

In  weight,  the  brook  trout  ranges  up  to  ten  pounds 
in  large  waters.  There  is  a  record  of  one  weighing 
eleven  pounds.  This  specimen  was  taken  in  North- 
western Maine.  The  species  averages  threequarters 
of  a  pound  to  one  pound  and  a  half  in  the  streams,  and 
one  pound  to  three  pounds  in  the  lakes  and  ponds. 
It  occurs  between  latitude  32^^°  and  55°,  in  the  lakes 
and  streams  of  the  Atlantic  watershed,  near  the 
sources  of  a  few  rivers  flowing  into  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  some  of  the  southern 
affluents  of  Hudson  Bay,  its  range  being  limited  by  the 
western  foothills  of  the  Alleghanies,  extending  about 
three  hundred  miles  from  the  coast,  except  about  the 
Great  Lakes,  in  the  northern  tributaries  of  which  it 
abounds.  It  also  inhabits  the  headwaters  of  the 
Chattahoochee,  in  the  southern  spurs  of  the  Georgia 
Alleghanies,  and  tributaries  of  the  Catawba  in  North 
Carolina  and  clear  waters  of  the  great  islands  of  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence — Anticosti,  Cape  Breton,  Prince 
Edward,  and  Newfoundland;  and  abounds  in  New 
York,  Michigan,  Connecticut,  Pennsylvania,  Maine, 
Long  Island,  Canada,  Wisconsin,  New  Hampshire, 
and  Massachusetts. 

My  favorite  rod  for  stream  trout  fishing  is  a  cork- 
handled,  all-lancewood  rod  of  three  or  four  ounces  in 
weight  and  eight  feet  in  length,  or  a  rod  of  similar 
length  weighing  four  or  five  ounces  and  made  of  split 
bamboo — the  best  split  bamboo  of  the  best  workman- 
ship. The  cheap,  so-called  split  bamboo  of  the  dry- 
goods  store  bargain  (?)  counter,  retailed  for  a  price 
that  would  not  pay  for  the  mere  wrapping  of  the 
correct  article,  is  a  flimsy,  decorative  thing,  and  would 


Fly-risHing  27 

collapse,  or,  worse  still,  bend  one  way  and  stay  that 
way,  if  used  on  the  stream.  The  fly-rod  material 
must  be  springy  and  resiliently  so,  and  the  rod  must 
be  constructed  so  as  to  permit  of  this  condition. 

The  reel  I  favor  is  a  small,  narrow,  light,  all-rubber 
or  narrow  aluminum  common-click  reel,  holding 
twenty-five  yards  of  the  thinnest-calibered  silk,  water- 
proof-enameled line. 

My  leader  is  a  brown-stained  one  of  silk  gut,  twelve 
feet  in  length.  The  leader  should  be  fresh  and  firm, 
flexible  and  fine,  not  a  dried-up,  brittle,  unyielding, 
snappy  snarl  of  the  salesman's  discarded  sample  box 
that  breaks  at  the  mere  touch,  or  releases  the  flies  at 
the  first  cast  or  parts  at  the  first  strike — if  by  some 
miraculous  mischance  you  get  this  far  with  it.  The 
leaders,  a  half-dozen  of  them,  should  be  carried,  when 
not  in  actual  use,  in  a  flat,  aluminum,  pocket-fitting 
box  between  two  dampened  flannel  mats  (though  not 
preserved  this  way  in  close  season),  so  as  to  have  them 
thoroughly  limp  from  being  water  soaked,  that  you 
may  more  readily  and  more  safely  adjust  them,  for 
break  they  surely  will  if  handled  in  a  dry  state. 

The  willow  creel,  in  which  the  spoil  of  the  day  is 
d3posited,  should  be,  I  think,  about  the  size  of  a  small 
hand-satchel.  To  this  is  fastened  a  leather  strap, 
with  abroad,  shoulder-protecting  band  of  stout  canvas. 
This  I  sling  over  the  right  shoulder,  allowing  the  creel 
to  hang  above  the  back  part  of  the  left  hip  where  it 
will  least  interfere  with  me  during  the  fight  with 
fontinalis. 

The  landing  net  I  use  is  a  little  one  of  egg  shape, 
made  of  cane  with  no  metal  whatsoever,  and  it  has  a 
linen  mesh  about  ten  inches  in  width  and  eighteen 
inches  in  length.    The  handle  is  a  trifle  over  one  foot 


28  THe  Determined  Angler 

in  length.  To  this  I  tie  one  end  of  a  stout  but  light- 
weight flexible  and  small-calibered  cord,  or  a  stretch  of 
small  rubber  tube,  and  the  other  end  of  this  I  tie  to  a 
button  on  my  coat  under  my  chin,  throwing  the  net 
over  my  left  shoulder  to  lie  on  my  back  until  called 
into  service. 

The  clothing  should  be  of  dark-gray  wool  of  light 
weight.  I  wear  a  lightly  woven  gray  sweater  under 
my  coat  when  the  weather  is  cool. 

I  have  plenty  of  pockets  in  my  trouting  coat,  and  I 
make  it  a  practice  to  tie  a  string  to  nearly  everything 
I  carry  in  them — shears,  hook-file,  knife,  match-box, 
tobacco-pouch,  pipe,  purse,  field-glasses,  fly-book, 
etc. — so  that  I  will  not  mislay  them  ordinarily,  or 
drop  them  in  the  rushing  current  during  some  exciting 
moment. 

The  headgear  I  like  is  a  gray,  soft  felt  hat  of 
medium  brim  to  protect  my  eyes  in  the  sun  and  to  sit 
upon  in  the  shade. 

The  footwear  may  consist  of  waterproof  ankle  shoes 
attached  to  rubber  or  canvas  trousers,  or  of  a  pair  of 
light,  close-fitting  hip  rubber  boots.  Some  Anglers 
wear  rubber  waterproof  combined  trousers  and 
stockings  and  any  sort  of  well-soled  shoes.  In  warm 
weather,  I  affect  nothing  beyond  a  pair  of  old  shoes 
with  holes  cut  in  both  sides  to  let  the  water  run  freely 
in  and  out,  the  holes  not  big  enough  to  admit  sand  and 
pebbles. 

The  artificial  flies  are  of  many  hundreds  of  patterns. 
I  have  a  thousand  or  two,  but  half  a  hundred,  of  sizes 
four  to  six  for  the  lakes  and  ponds,  and  six  to  fourteen 
for  the  small  streams,  are  enough  to  select  from  during 
a  season;  two  dozen  are  sufficient  for  a  single  trip, 
half  a  dozen  will  do  to  carry  to  the  stream  for  a  day, — 


if  you  don't  lose  many  by  whipping  them  off  or  getting 
them  caught  in  a  tree, — and  two  are  all  I  use  for  the 
cast,  though  a  cast  of  three  flies  is  the  favorite  of  many 
fishermen.  I  amuse  myself  by  presuming  to  have  a 
special  list  for  each  month,  week,  day,  and  hour,  but 
the  extravagantly  erratic  notions  of  the  trout  forbid 
my  recommending  it  to  brother  rodmen.  Trout  that 
show  a  preference  for  certain  flies  one  day  may  the  next 
day  favor  entirely  different  patterns.  Sometimes  they 
will  take  an  imitation  of  the  natural  fly  upon  the 
water  and  at  other  times,  being  gorged  with  the 
natural  insect,  will  only  strike  at  some  oddly  colored 
concoction  of  no  resemblance  to  any  living  thing  in 
nature;  this  in  play,  or  in  anger,  and  at  other  times 
out  of  pure  curiosity.  An  Angler  doesn't  need  a  great 
number  of  flies — if  he  knows  just  what  fly  the  game  is 
taking.  You  can't  very  well  determine  this  half  a 
hundred  miles  from  the  fishing;  so  you  take  a  variety 
with  you  and  experiment.  The  flies  should  be  of  the 
best  make  and  freshest  quality,  tied  by  a  practical 
hand — some  honest  maker  who  is  himself  an  Angler — 
not  the  cheap,  dried-up,  wall-decorative,  bastard 
butterflies  of  the  ladies'  dry-goods  shop,  that  hybrid 
mess  of  gaudy  waste  ribbon-silk  and  barnyard  feather, 
the  swindling  output  of  the  catch-penny  shopman 
whose  sweat  help  do  not  know — upon  my  word — the 
name  or  the  purpose  of  the  thing  they  make. 

Any  six  of  the  following  list  will  kill  well  enough  for 
a  single  day's  pleasant  fishing  in  any  water  at  any 
time  during  the  legal  season:  Dark  Coachman,  Gray 
and  Green  Palmer,  Ginger  Palmer,  Alder,  Scarlet 
Ibis,  Abbey,  Imbrie,  Professor,  Conroy,  Reuben 
Wood,  March  Brown,  Orvis,  White  Miller,  Coachman, 
Roy aL  Coachman,  Codun,  Brown  and  Red  Palmer, 


30  TKe  Determined  Angler 

Brown  Hen,  Queen  of  the  Water,  King  of  the  Water, 
Squires,  Black  Gnat,  Grizzly  King,  Quaker. 

I  use,  as  a  rule,  dark  colors  in  clear  water,  and  on 
bright  days  and  early  in  the  season ;  lighter  shades  in 
dull  water  and  on  dark  days,  in  the  evening,  and  as  the 
season  grows  warmer;  but  many  Anglers  philosophize 
just  the  reverse — use  light  colors  for  early  season 
fishing  and  somber  hues  for  midsummer  play — hence 
the  endless  arguments  and  experiments  described  as 
one  of  the  charms  of  the  craft. 

I  prefer,  as  I  have  said,  two  flies  on  the  leader,  and 
my  favorite  of  favorites  for  all  times  and  all  places  is  a 
cast  made  up  of  gnat-size  pattern  of  dark-gray  wing 
and  pale-blue  body,  and  another  of  a  peculiar  drab- 
cream  shade. 

In  throwing  or  casting  the  fly  I  never  *'whip"  or 
"flair*  the  rod,  and  I  never  cast  with  a  long  line  when 
a  short  one  will  answer  the  purpose.  Distance  alone 
may  count  in  a  fly-casting  contest,  but  in  the  wild 
stream  a  careful  short  cast  is  more  effective  than  a 
clumsy  long  one. 

I  angle  with  my  shadow  behind  me,  and  in  casting 
the  flies  endeavor  to  allow  only  the  flies  to  touch  the 
water.  The  line  frightens  the  game,  and  if  a  trout 
should  take  a  fly  on  a  loose,  wavy  line,  he  will  not  hook 
himself  and  he  will  blow  the  fly  from  his  mouth  be- 
fore the  Angler  is  able  to  hook  him. 

In  learning  to  cast  the  fly,  the  young  Angler  should 
start  with  the  leader  alone,  as  I  believe  all  fly-fishing 
is  begun  by  old  and  young,  and  as  he  lifts  the  flies 
from  the  water  after  the  forward  cast  to  make  the 
backward  motion  he  should  simultaneously  draw 
from  the  reel  a  half- yard  of  line  and  allow  time  for  the 
flies  to  complete  the  whole  circuit  back  of  him.     In 


riy-rishing  31 

fly-fishing  the  cast  is  not  made  from  the  reel  as  in  bait- 
casting;  the  line  is  drawn  from  the  reel  a  half-yard  at 
a  time  with  the  left  hand.  The  line  must  fully 
straighten  itself  behind  the  Angler  ere  it  can  be  sent 
out  straight  before  him.  The  flies  and  at  most  only 
a  little  part  of  the  leader  should  fall  lightly  upon  the 
surface — as  we  imagine  two  insects,  entangled  in  a 
delicate  cobweb,  might  fall  from  a  tree  branch — and 
be  drawn  smartly  but  gently  in  little  jerks  a  second 
or  two  in  imitation  of  two  tiny  live-winged  bugs 
fluttering  in  the  water;  and  then,  as  the  Angler  steps 
slowly,  firmly,  but  silently  and  softly  in  the  current 
downstream,  he  should  repeat  the  lifting  of  the  flies, 
the  drawing  off  of  more  line  from  the  reel,  and  the 
circling  backward  cast  that  takes  up  the  slack  and 
gives  the  line  its  forward  force.  Thus  he  should 
continue,  deftly  placing  the  lure  in  every  likely  spot 
ahead  of  him  in  the  center  of  the  brook  and  along  its 
moss-lined,  flower-decked,/ock-bound  or  grass-fringed 
banks. 

The  Angler  is  careful  not  to  let  the  trout  see  him, 
see  his  shadow,  or  see  the  rod,  and  not  to  let  this 
wisest,  most  watchful  species  of  all  the  finny  tribes 
hear  him  or  feel  the  vibration  of  his  body. 

In  hooking  the  trout  the  Angler  strikes  the  second 
the  fish  strikes — not  by  a  violent  arm  movement,  but 
by  a  mere  instantaneous  nervous  backward  twist  of 
the  wrist,  as  one  would  instinctively  draw  up  his  hand 
from  the  pierce  of  a  needle  point.  Many  trout  are 
hooked  the  instant  the  leader  is  lifted  for  a  new  cast, 
and  many  hook  themselves  without  the  slightest  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  Angler. 

When  the  fish  is  hooked  he  should  not  be  flaunted 
in  the  air,  as  the  boy  fisher  yanks  his  pond  perch. 


32  THe  Determined  Angler 

The  prize  should  be  handled  as  if  he  were  but  slightly 
secured,  his  head  should  be  kept  under  water,  the 
line  kept  gently  taut,  and  the  fish  softly  led  out  of 
noisy  water  and  away  from  stones,  long  grass,  sub- 
merged tree  branches  or  logs. 

If  the  catch  is  heavy  enough  to  draw  the  line  from 
the  reel  it  is  allowed  to  do  so,  but  the  line  should  be 
kept  taut  and  reeled  in  the  second  he  hesitates. 
There  need  be  no  hurry. 

After  a  little  while  the  game's  rushes  will  cease;  then 
it  should  be  reeled  in,  care  being  taken  not  to  arouse 
it  again  by  the  contact  of  a  weed  or  stone. 

The  tip  of  the  rod  is  now  raised  over  the  head  and 
back  of  the  Angler  until  the  butt  points  downward; 
then,  if  the  fish  has  been  reeled  in  near  enough,  it  is 
secured  in  the  landing  net,  tail  first,  and  carefully  slid 
into  the  creel  through  the  little  square  opening  for  this 
purpose  in  the  lid. 

If  you,  reader  mine,  should  some  day  get  as  far  as 
this  glorious  part  of  the  play,  and  the  fish  should  be  a 
small  one,  be  satisfied;  the  true  Angler  is  ever  of  a 
contented  heart;  if  the  fish  should  be  too  small,  set  it 
free — the  true  Angler  is  always  humane  and  generous; 
if  it  should  prove  fit  to  feed  upon,  do  not  subject  it 
to  unnecessary  suffering — skillfully  kill  itoutright  at 
once;  the  true  Angler  is  manly  and  merciful. 

And,  and — good  luck  to  you,  brother. 


CHAPTER  V 
Walton's  way 

"  More  than  half  the  intense  enjoyment  of  fly-fishing  is  derived 
from  the  beautiful  surroundings." — Charles  F.  Or  vis. 

A  CLAUSE  in  a  recent  tariff  bill  prohibited  the  im- 
portation of  some  of  the  favorite  artificial  flies  of  the 
Angler  and  likewise  prohibited  the  importation  of  the 
materials  used  in  making  these  flies,  particularly 
feathers  and  skins  of  the  valuable  song  birds  whose 
insect-eating  prevents  the  destruction  of  the  trees  and 
other  foliage  absolutely  necessary  to  the  preservation 
of  the  planet  upon  which  man  lives. 

This  clause  was  fathered  by  the  wise  and  welcome 
bird-protecting  institutions  known  as  the  Audubon 
Societies,  and  was  intended  to  stop  the  infamous  traffic 
in  wild  birds  for  millinery  purposes,  which,  if  not 
reformed,  means  the  utter  extermination  of  the 
world's  feathered  friends. 

The  feathers  and  skins  imported  annually  for  arti- 
ficial flies  were  to  come  under  the  same  prohibition  as 
millinery  feathers. 

England  has  a  law  prohibiting  the  importation  of 
certain  plumage,  but  specific  exception  is  made  for  the 
materials  used  in  fly-making. 

There  was  a  foolish  opposition  to  this  clause  on  the 
part  of  a  few  professional  fly  tiers,  some  of  the  fly 
3  33 


34  TKe  Determined  Angler 

dealers,  and  a  lot  of  fishermen,  and  these  men  and 
women  Were  loud  in  their  declaration  that  the  Angler 
is  also  opposed  to  the  clause,  which,  if  allowed,  they 
think  would  injure  the  business  of  the  professional 
fly  maker,  fly  dealer,  et  al. 

Now  the  truth  is:  No  Angler  was  opposed  to  the 
clause,  and  the  claim  that  the  protection  of  valuable 
tree-saving  birds  would  hurt  trade  of  any  sort  is 
absurd.  The  same  sort  of  foolish  objection  was  made 
to  the  introduction  of  the  sewing-machine — it  was 
said  it  would  prevent  a  lot  of  hand-sewing  workmen 
from  making  a  living.  In  a  few  years  man  will  laugh 
at  this  silly  and  selfish  individual  cry  against  bird- 
protection  with  the  same  ridiculous  spirit  with  which 
he  now  laughs  at  the  old  idiotic  objection  to  the 
sewing-machine . 

A  writer  in  the  New  York  Sun  says:  **The  first 
effect  of  prohibiting  the  importation  of  the  feathers 
for  flies  will  be  to  drive  many  back  to  bait-fishing. 
An  Angler  using  bait  should  take  ten  trout  for  every 
one  he  could  kill  with  a  fly.  The  Government,  the 
States,  and  clubs  are  spending  large  sums  for  the 
stocking  of  streams  with  trout.  The  expenditure 
would  scarcely  be  justified  if  there  is  to  be  bait-fishing 
in  these  streams — they  would  soon  be  fished  out. 
Thousands  who  formerly  used  bait  have  taken  up  fly- 
fishing because  it  is  better  sport.'* 

What  does  this  writer  mean  by  the  word  *'many  *' — 
the  *'many''^he  thinks'that  will  be  driven  back  to  bait 
fishing  as  the  effect  of  the  prohibition  of  the  importa- 
tion of  the  feathers  for  flies?  Many  what?  Not 
Anglers,  by  any  means,  because  the  Angler  would 
rather  merely  try  to  catch  his  trout  with  an  artificial 
fly  made  from  a  feather  duster  than  to  be  assured  of 


"Walton's  Way  35 

catching  the  game  with  a  worm  or  minnow  or  salmon 
egg.  The  **many"  refers  to  fishermen,  or  professional 
fly  tiers,  not  Anglers. 

The  Angler  and  the  ordinary  fisherman  are  as  far 
separated  in  character  and  nature  as  the  humming- 
bird and  the  buzzard  are  separated  in  life  and  lesson. 

The  real  opposer  to  bird-protection  in  this  objection 
to  the  clause  prohibiting  the  importation  of  bird 
feathers  and  skins  is  the  commercial  fellow,  and  there 
is  no  commercial  side  to  angling. 

The  Angler  is  a  student  as  well  as  a  lover  of  nature, 
and  he  knows  that  without  the  insect-eating  birds 
there  can  be  no  trees,  that  without  trees  there  can  be 
no  waters,  that  without  waters  there  can  be  no  fishes, 
and  that  without  fishes  there  can  be  no  fishing.  The 
stupid  fisherman  can't  surmount  this,  and  the  com- 
mercial fly  tier,  whose  business  alone  teaches  him 
enough  of  the  angling  art  to  be  able  to  figure  this 
natural  science,  thinks  too  much  of  his  money  creel 
to  admit  it.  This  pretended  ignorance  is  called  good 
business  instinct,  and  the  Angler  doesn't  object  to 
men  minding  their  own  business,  but  when  business 
instinct  runs  wild  and  evokes  the  effrontery  to  imply 
that  the  Angler,  a  non-commercial  being,  is  opposed 
to  the  prohibition  of  earth-valuable  bird  extermina- 
tion, business  instinct  is  going  a  little  too  far  with  its 
money-mad  method. 

The  Angler  does  not  condemn  the  use  of  correct 
tackle;  he's  a  believer  in  it,  and  just  as  he  is  sincere  in 
his  advocacy  of  proper  tackle  and  in  his  immaculate 
use  of  proper  tackle,  so  is  he  sincere  in  his  profound 
belief  in  correct  methods  in  fishing. 

The  fisherman — the  fellow  who  judges  his  day  by 
the  number  of  fishes  he  kills  in  any  manner  regardless 


36  THe  Determined  Angler 

of  season  and  size — may  resort  to  dynamite,  and  he 
may  not  be  in  sympathy  with  any  of  the  chivalric 
means,  manners,  and  methods  of  any  of  the  worldly 
matters,  but  the  Angler  is  not  of  this  stamp. 

Izaak  Walton,  the  father  of  fishing,  never  posed  for 
his  portrait  with  half  a  hundred  dead  fishes  tied  to  his 
body.  Ferns,  feathered  friends,  flowers,  fair  skies, 
fine  fishing  tackle,  and  fishes  embellished  his  pictures. 

The  fish,  to  the  Angler,  is  only  one  feature — no 
doubt  the  main  feature — of  his  favorite  pastime,  and 
the  killing  of  the  fish  is  not  a  pleasant  part  of  his 
pursuit;  the  death  of  the  game  is,  to  the  Angler,  a  sad 
incident,  however  happy  the  fisherman  may  be  over 
the  slaughter  of  his  greedy  mess,  and  the  Angler, 
therefore,  could  not  possibly  derive  the  delights  of  his 
angling  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  lordly  winged  creatures 
he  so  repeatedly  thanks  his  Master  for. 

Who  ever  read  an  Angler's  story  without  the  song 
birds  in  it?  The  expression  ''gentle  art'*  is  applied  to 
angling  and  the  Angler.  Who  ever  heard  of  the  gentle 
art  of  fishing!  And  angling  is  a  gentle  art;  so,  to  prac- 
tice it,  one  must  be  gentle. 

The  Angler  will  not  resort  to  fishing  with  live  bait 
if  the  few  European  artificial  flies  are  excluded  from 
his  lures,  because  he  can  catch  all  the  fishes  his  gentle 
art  entitles  him  to  with  the  flies  of  home  make. 

The  artificial  flies  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland 
are  lovely  creations  of  practical  as  well  as  beautiful 
design,  and  the  Angler  adores  them,  but,  since  his  gentle 
creel  can  be  filled  without  them,  he'll  not  insist  on  their 
importation  if  it  tends  in  the  slightest  manner  toward 
the  extermination  of  the  very  things  that  make  possible 
the  gentle  art  of  angling — the  birds  and  the  trees, 
without  which  the  fishes  themselves  could  not  survive. 


Walton's  \Vay  37 

The  world  is  not  composed  entirely  of  fishermen — 
the  earth  itself  should  not  be  sacrificed  for  a  few 
against  the  multitude — and  the  Angler,  the  fisherman 
of  quality,  is  wise  enough  to  appreciate  this;  his  in- 
dividual pastime  is  not  as  important  as  the  general 
welfare  of  the  masses,  and  it  will  be  said  that  the 
fisherman,  who  estimates  quantity  over  quality,  is  far 
less  entitled  to  consideration. 

Angling  is  a  pastime  of  a  craft ;  the  birds,  the  trees, 
and  the  waters  are  necessities  of  a  planet  and  its 
people. 

Fishing  for  the  market — a  distinct  method  from  that 
of  the  Angler  and  the  common  fisherman  who  fishes 
for  the  mere  sake  of  killing  and  counting — is  not 
concerned  in  this  argument,  and  may  be  dismissed 
with  a  brief  word  of  commendation.  Legitimately 
practiced,  discriminately  carried  on  according  to  the 
law  of  man  and  nature,  it  is  even  more  admirable  than 
angling  and  far  more  honorable  than  the  wasteful 
pursuit  of  the  vulgar  amateur  fisherman.  Our 
Saviour  sanctioned  net  fishing;  chose  simple  fishermen 
for  his  disciples — St.  Andrew,  St.  Peter,  St.  James,  and 
St.  John. 

The  expression,  *'fly  fisherman,''  may  refer  to  the 
fisherman  or  the  Angler,  for  there  are  lots  of  fly  fisher- 
men as  well  as  mere  fishermen  who  are  not  Anglers, 
for  the  reason  that  fly-fishing,  indulged  in  by  a  greedy 
hand,  can  permit  of  ungentle  fish-catching  the  same  as 
bait-fishing.  Both  methods  are  equally  destructive 
if  not  followed  with  strict  rules  of  angling,  and  all  that 
need  be  said  to  properly  define  angling  is  that  it  is  the 
poetry — the  art  and  refinement — of  fishing.  The 
common  fisherman  is  simply  a  fish-basket  filler;  the 
Angler  fills  his  soul,  not  the  creel. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  WANTON  WAY 


"  There's  an  Angler's  law,  and  a  court  or  legal  law.  The  fisher- 
man who  adheres  to  the  Angler's  law  can't  break  the  court  law." 
— Seth  Fielding. 

Gentility  in  the  limit  of  the  catch  and  giving  the 
fish  its  sporting  chance  on  Ught  tackle  constitute  the 
ethical  soul  of  angling.  The  fisherman  who  stops 
fishing  when  he  has  a  few  specimens  is  angling;  he's 
an  Angler.  The  fisherman  who  fishes  with  no  limit 
in  his  catch  is  merely  fishing;  he's  a  fisherman,  not  an 
Angler. 

Any  picture  of  a  few  fishes  may  illustrate  the  catch  of 
the  Angler,  and  the  photograph  on  Frontispiece  shows 
the  catch  of  the  worst  type  of  fisherman — the  wanton 
fish  exterminator  who,  ignoring  the  Angler's  gentle 
law,  takes  his  greedy  mess  because  it  is  according  to 
the  so-called  legal  law. 

Dr.  WilUam  T.  Hornaday,  author  of  Wild  Life 
Conservation^  The  American  Natural  History,  Our 
Vanishing  Wild  Life,  etc.,  and  director  of  the  New 
York  Zoological  Park,  has  sent  me  the  photograph  of 
the  greedyman's  catch — made  near  Spokane,  Wash- 
ington— with  the  following  notes : 

**The  great  trouble  [in  the  matter  of  wasteful  fish- 
catching]  is  not  so  much  with  the  people  who  catch 

38 


THe  Wanton  Way  39 

fish  as  with  the  brutally  destructive  laws  that  permit 
fishermen  to  catch  four  or  five  times  as  many  fish  as 
they  should.  There  are  a  great  many  sportsmen  who 
sincerely  believe  that  it  is  all  right  to  take  all  the  fish 
and  game  of  all  kinds  that  the  law  allows.  Whenever 
any  destruction  is  waged  on  that  basis  I  always  charge 
it  to  the  abominably  liberal  laws  that  in  many  cases 
seemed  framed  to  promote  destruction.  Ninety-nine 
per  cent,  of  the  streams  of  this  country  very  soon  will 
be  so  nearly  destitute  of  fish  that  fishing  will  become  a 
lost  art.  In  the  Rocky  Mountains  the  overfishing 
abuse  is  particularly  vicious  and  destructive  because 
in  those  cold  streams  the  fish  mature  slowly,  their 
food  is  very  scarce  and  dear,  and  the  fish  are  so  hungry 
that  they  are  easily  caught.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to 
completely  fish  out  a  mountain  stream  in  the  Rocky 
Mountain  region  or  in  the  Pacific  States.  In  the  State 
of  Wyoming  some  very  aggravated  cases  of  wanton 
fish  destruction  by  indifferent  rod  and  line  fishermen 
have  lately  been  brought  to  my  attention.'* 

Dr.  Hornaday  is  an  Angler,  and  his  views  and 
practices  are  endorsed  by  all  Anglers.  His  great  book 
on  wild  life  conservation  is  brimful  of  practical  detail 
and  should  be  in  the  library  of  all  who  are  interested  in 
the  preservation  of  our  fishes,  birds,  and  quadruped 
game.  Here  is  a  sample  of  the  Doctor's  vigorous  style 
In  his  admirable  campaign  against  the  exterminator: 
**A  few  years  ago,  certain  interests  in  Pennsylvania 
raised  a  great  public  outcry  against  the  alleged  awful 
destruction  of  fish  in  the  streams  of  Pennsylvania  by 
herons.  ...  A  little  later  on,  however,  the  game 
commissioners  found  that  the  herons  remaining  in 
Pennsylvania  were  far  too  few  to  constitute  a  pest  to 
fish   life,    and   furthermore,    the   millinery   interests 


40  TKe  Determined  Angler 

appeared  to  be  behind  the  movement.  Under  the 
new  law  the  milliners  were  enabled  to  reopen  in  Penn- 
sylvania the  sale  of  aigrettes,  because  those  feathers 
came  from  members  of  the  unprotected  Heron  Family ! 
It  required  a  tremendous  State  campaign  to  restore 
protection  to  the  herons  and  bar  out  the  aigrettes; 
but  it  was  accojnplished  in  191 2.  Hereafter,  let  no 
man  for  one  moment  be  deceived  by  the  claim  that 
the  very  few-and-far-between  herons,  bitterns,  and 
kingfishers  that  now  remain  in  the  United  States, 
anywhere,  are  such  a  menace  to  fish  life  that  those 
birds  are  a  pest  and  deserve  to  be  shot.  The  inland 
streams  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  lack  fishes 
because  they  have  been  outrageously  overfished, — 
wastefully,  wickedly  depleted,  without  sense  or  reason, 
by  men  who  scorn  the  idea  of  conservation.  In 
Orleans  County,  New  York,  a  case  was  reported  to 
me  of  a  farmer  who  dynamited  the  waters  of  his  own 
creek,  in  spawning  time!'' 

The  Angler  angles  according  to  his  own  himianely 
conservative  law.  The  greedy  fisherman  fishes  accord- 
ing to  court  or  so-called  legal  law,  good  or  bad,  and  he 
always  breaks  the  Angler's  law  and  very  often  the 
court's  law. 

In  viewing  Dr.  Hornaday's  Spokane  photograph 
note  the  bait-casting  reel  on  the  fiy-casting  rod — the 
rig  of  a  clumsy  as  well  as  greedy  fisherman.  The  mess 
of  trout  shown  is  one  that  no  Angler  would  ever  make 
and  one  that  any  gentleman  would  be  ashamed  of — 
** three  times  too  many  fish  for  one  rod,"  as  Dr. 
Hornaday  says,  **  another  line  of  extermination 
according  to  law."  Of  course,  the  Doctor  means  the 
fisherman's  law  or  the  court's  law,  not  the  Angler's 
law. 


CHAPTER  VII 

FLY-FISHING  FOR   TROUT 

**  The  variety  of  rivers  require  different  ways  of  angling."— 
IzAAK  Walton,  The  Compleat  Angler, 

The  art  of  catching  fish  with  artificial  lures  in  imi- 
tation of  natural  insects  is  the  most  chivalric  of  all 
methods  of  angling. 

Fish,  particularly  trout,  often  hook  themselves 
when  they  seize  the  fly  of  a  fisherman  using  a  pliant 
rod  that  will  yield  and  spring  freely.  As  the  game 
strikes,  the  Angler  strikes,  hooking  the  fish  swiftly 
but  delicately  by  a  simple  turn  of  the  wrist.  The 
trout  is  not  flaunted  up  in  the  air  by  force,  as  some 
coarse  perch  fishermen  lift  their  catch.  The  trout 
fisher  does  not  use  his  arm  at  all  in  hooking  a  trout 
beyond  aiding  the  hand  in  holding  the  rod  for  the 
wrist  to  do  the  work.  A  practiced  troutman  can  secure 
his  fish  by  moving  his  hand  five  inches — a  little  back- 
ward nervous  twist  of  the  wrist. 

Trout  often  snap  a  fly  and  spit  it  out  so  quickly 
that  the  tyro  does  not  have  a  chance  to  strike  and  hook 
the  prize.  At  other  times  they  take  hold  more  slowly, 
and  afford  the  beginner  more  opportunity  to  hook 
them,  and,  as  I  have  said,  they  very  often  hook 
themselves. 

The  beginner  will  have  some  trouble  in  overcoming 
41 


42  TKe  Determined  Angler 

the  excitement  or  *' trout  fever*'  that  always  accom- 
panies the  trout's  rise  and  strike,  but  experience  will 
gradually  make  him  more  calm  and  active  at  this 
important  moment.  The  tyro  trout  fisher  is  often 
more  frightened  at  the  rise  of  the  trout  than  he  would 
be  at  the  flush  of  a  noisy  grouse  or  the  springing  of  a 
surprised  deer. 

When  you  have  hooked  the  fish,  always  handle 
him  as  if  he  were  but  lightly  secured.  Do  not  attempt 
to  lift  him  out  or  yank  him  up  to  you.  Keep  the  line 
gently  taut,  and  softly  lead  the  prize  out  of  rough 
water  or  away  from  stones,  grasses,  logs,  or  tree 
branches.  Do  not  let  him  come  to  the  surface  until  he 
is  pretty  well  exhausted  and  you  are  about  to  put  him 
in  the  landing-net.  If  he  is  a  large  fish,  tow  him  ashore 
if  the  water  edge  will  permit.  Where  there  are  over- 
hanging banks  this  cannot  be  done.  Do  not  be  in  a 
hurry  to  get  him  out  of  the  water.  Be  calm  and  work 
carefully. 

If  the  fish  is  large  enough  to  overcome  the  reel 
click  and  run  off  the  line,  let  him  do  so,  but  check  him 
and  guide  him  according  to  any  obstruction  there 
may  be. 

When  he  has  rushed  here  and  there  for  some  little 
time  with  his  mouth  open  and  with  a  constant  check — 
the  line  should  always  be  taut — he  will  become  tired, 
and  when  he  is  tired  he  will  not  rush.  Then  softly 
reel  him  in,  being  careful  not  to  let  him  come  in  con- 
tact with  a  stone  or  weed,  which  is  sure  to  arouse  him 
again.  Reel  him  up  quickly,  without  making  a 
splashing  swoop,  and  he  will  soon  grace  your  creel. 

Several  persons  have  expressed  an  objection  to  a 
list  of  flies  I  once  named,  saying  a  good  Angler  might 
kill  just  as  many  trout  on  quarter  the  number. 


riy-risKin^  for  Troxjit  43 

Any  Angler  can  take  even  less  than  one  quarter  of 
the  enumerated  list  and  catch  fully  as  many  brook 
trout  as  one  who  might  use  all  of  the  flies  mentioned— 
if  he  can  pick  out  the  ones  the  trout  are  rising  to  with- 
out trying  them  all  until  he  discovers  the  killing  ones. 
A  chef  might  please  his  master  with  one  or  two  of  the 
forty  courses  billed,  if  he  knew  what  the  man  wanted. 

Sometimes  an  Angler  can  judge  the  appropriate  fly 
to  use  by  observing  nature  In  seeing  trout  rise  to  the 
live  fly;  but,  there  are  times  when  trout  are  not  rising, 
times  when  they  are  tired  of  the  fly  upon  the  water,  and 
times  when  the  real  fly  is  not  on  the  wing.  Then  the 
Angler  is  expected  to  take  matters  in  his  own  hands 
and  whip  about  quietly  until  he  discovers  the  proper 
patterns.  It  is  better  to  try  for  the  right  flies  with  a 
list  of  twenty-nine  than  whip  over  a  list  of  a  thousand 
or  more.  I  have  learned  from  experience  that  trout, 
like  human  beings,  are  in  love  with  a  variety  of  foods 
at  different  times.  Their  tastes  change  with  the 
months,  the  weeks,  the  days,  the  hours,  and,  under 
certain  conditions  which  I  will  presently  explain,  the 
minutes. 

**.  .  .  fish  will  not  bite  constantly,  nor  every  day. 
They  have  peculiar,  unexplainable  moods  that  con- 
tinuing favoring  conditions  of  water,  wind,  and 
weather  cannot  control'*  (Eugene  McCarthy,  Fa- 
miliar Fish), 

When  I  mention  twenty-nine  different  patterns  as 
being  seasonable  at  a  stated  period,  I  do  not  mean  to 
say  that  the  trout  will  rise  to  them  all  and  at  any  time 
and  under  all  conditions.  In  the  first  place,  the  person 
using  them  might  be  a  tyro  unfamiliar  with  the  gentle 
art,  the  streams  might  be  dried  up,  there  might  be  an 
earthquake,  the  flies  might  be  too  large,  too  coarse, 


44  THe  Determined  Angler 

and  for  that  matter  a  thousand  other  conditions  might 
interfere.  I  fish  dozens  of  streams  in  different  localities 
several  times  every  month  during  the  legal  season,  and 
I  have  been  a  fond  Angler — if  not  a  skillful  one — • 
since  my  tenth  birthday.  Experience  on  the  streams, 
a  true  love  for  nature,  and  a  careful  attention  to  my 
notebook  enable  me  to  separate  the  artificial  flies  into 
monthly  lists.  No  man  can  class  them  into  weekly  or 
daily  lots. 

**  When  a  fly  is  said  to  be  in  season  it  does  not  follow 
that  it  is  abroad  on  every  day  of  its  existence'* 
(Alfred  Ronalds). 

The  Eastern  gentleman  who  said  if  he  could  have 
but  one  fly  he  would  take  a  yellow  one,  is  probably  a 
good  Angler,  for  a  yellow  fly  is  a  fair  choice.  If  I 
could  have  but  one  fly  I  should  take  a — ah !  I  cannot 
name  its  color;  'tis  the  quaker,  a  cream,  buff,  grayish, 
honey-yellow  shade. 

Beaverkill,  Seth  Green,  Ashey  Montreal,  Dun, 
Wickham's  Fancy,  August  Brown  are  killing  patterns 
in  the  Pennsylvania  streams. 

Trout  change  in  their  tastes  by  the  month,  week, 
day,  hour,  and  minute.  There  are  flies  among  the 
list  given  for  this  or  that  month  that  they  will  not  rise 
to  to-day  or  perhaps  to-morrow,  but  surely  there  are 
some  among  the  list  that  will  please  them,  and  you 
have  to  discover  those  particular  flies,  and  so,  as  I 
have  said  before,  'tis  better  to  search  among  twenty- 
nine  than  twenty-nine  hundred. 

In  July  of  a  certain  season  I  waded  a  stream  in 
Pennsylvania  and  had  these  flies  with  me:  Quaker, 
Oak,  Codun,  Reuben  Wood,  White  Miller,  Yellow 
Sallie,  Hare's  Ear,  Iron  Dun,  Brown  Palmer,  Cahill, 
and  a  few  others.    The  first  day  I  killed  eighteen  trout 


riy-FisHiiig  for  Trovit  45 

in  fishing  fifty  yards  in  a  small  stream  running  partly 
through  a  large  open  field  and  partly  through  bushes, 
fishing  from  the  left  bank.  Twelve  were  taken  on  a 
brown  palmer,  four  on  a  dark-gray  midge,  and  two  on 
a  tiny  yellow-gold-brown  fly.  I  fished  three  hours,  in 
which  time  I  received  exactly  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
strikes;  eighteen,  as  I  have  said,  proved  killing.  I 
fished  stealthily  up  anddown  the  stream,  hiding  here 
and  there  and  making  the  most  difficult  of  casts  at  all 
times.  I  went  up  and  down  the  little  stream  a  half 
dozen  times,  never  going  into  the  wood,  but  merely 
fishing  from  where  the  stream  came  out  of  the  wood 
to  where  it  hid  itself  again  beyond  the  field.  Part  of 
the  water  I  fished,  as  I  say,  was  in  underbush,  but  I 
did  not  leave  the  field. 

Now  I  am  going  to  show  you  how  the  tastes  of  trout 
varied  by  minutes,  in  two  instances  at  least,  and  I 
desire  you  to  know  every  little  detail.  To  well  con- 
vince you  that  the  casts  I  made  were  difficult,  I  will 
say  that  my  line  became  fastened  in  twigs,  leaves,  and 
bushes  every  other  toss.  I  had  to  put  the  flies  through 
little  openings  no  larger  than  the  creel  head  and  take 
chances  of  getting  the  leader  caught  while  on  the  way, 
and  after  it  was  there  and  on  its  return.  I  sometimes 
whipped  twenty  times  at  a  little  pool  before  I  reached 
it.  There  were  logs,  branches,  mosses,  cresses,  leaves, 
and  grasses  to  avoid.  The  water  in  parts  was  swift 
and  still,  narrow,  shallow,  and  deep,  sometimes  be- 
ing four  feet  wide  and  three  feet  deep,  and  then  ten 
feet  wide  and  three  inches  deep;  sometimes  running 
smartly  over  bright  grasses  or  pebbles  and  light  in 
color,  and  in  other  places  lying  dark  and  still  in  pools 
made  by  logs  and  deep  holes. 

A  tyro  would  have  fished  the  ground  in  ten  minutes 


46  THe  Determined  A.ngler 

and  caught  nothing;  some  Anglers  would  have  gone 
over  it  once  in  twenty-five  minutes  and  taken  a  half- 
dozen  fish.  I  had  the  day  to  myself;  I  had  nowhere 
else  tc^  go;  I  was  out  for  sport,  recreation,  and  study, — 
not  fish,  for  I  am  a  lover  of  nature  in  general, — and  so 
I  took  three  hours  at  the  play,  and  fished  and  observed 
inch  by  inch  like  a  mink,  the  king  of  trouters. 

I  say  I  had  two  hundred  and  fifteen  strikes,  out  of 
which  I  killed  eighteen  trout,  and  you  are  surprised. 
You  think  you  could  have  done  better,  much  better, 
but  I  know  you  could  not — you  could  not  have  done  as 
well  as  I  did  and  I  wish  that  I  could  put  you  to  a  test. 
I  have  seen  a  fontinalis  rise  to  a  small  coachman 
twenty-six  times,  snapping  apparently  at  the  feather 
each  time,  but  never  allowing  himself  to  be  hooked 
nor  hooking  himself.  He  was  playing.  He  was  a 
young  trout,  but  an  educated  one,  and  well  knew 
there  was  no  danger  if  he  kept  his  wits  about  him. 
I  have  witnesses  to  this  performance  who  will  sub- 
stantiate my  story,  and  I  can  easily  further  prove  the 
truthfulness  of  the  statement  by  taking  you  to  a 
streaim  where  a  similar  performance  may  be  enacted. 
And  I  have  seen  an  uneducated  trout  rise  and  snap  at  a 
fly  without  taking  it.  The  first  one  rose  in  play,  this 
one  in  curiosity — and  there  are  trout  that  will  rise  in 
anger.  All  of  them  may  know  the  bait  is  not  food.  It 
is  a  mistake  to  think  that  all  brook  trout  will  spurt 
from  a  fly  the  very  second  they  discover  it  is  not  real 
food,  as  it  is  an  error  to  believe  that  all  brook  trout 
will  take  the  fly  when  they  know  it  is  the  living  thing. 
All  trout  are  not  alike;  they  vary  in  their  tastes  and 
antics  as  they  do  in  color  and  size.  Mind  you,  I  speak 
only  of  one  species  here — the  true  brook  trout.  Salve- 
linus  fontinalis,  and  thus  the  material  should  be  in- 


riy-FisHin^  for  Trout  47 

teresting.  The  day  I  took  my  creel  of  eighteen  was  a 
fair  one;  we  had  rain  the  day  before;  the  water  was 
clear  and  the  stream  was  in  ordinary  condition.  The 
brown  hackle  which  killed  twelve  of  the  eighteen  was 
on  a  No.  8  hook;  the  other  two  flies  were  tied  on  No. 
1 6,  as  the  hackle  should  have  been,  for  the  fish  were 
small  and  the  stream  was  in  a  small-fly  condition  and 
quite  right  for  the  daintiest  leaders  and  the  finest 
midges.  But  the  hackle  seemed  to  please  the  trout; 
all  sizes  appeared  to  jump  at  it.  I  hooked  many  that 
were  not  over  three  inches  long!  Several  times  when 
taking  my  flies  from  the  water  for  a  new  cast,  I  lifted 
a  poor  little  trout  up  in  the  air  back  of  me,  like  the 
scurvy  flsherman  who  makes  a  practice  of  landing  all 
his  fish  by  yanking  them  out.  So  you  see  it  pays  to  be 
patient  on  the  stream  and  try  all  sorts  of  gentle  tricks 
with,  fontinalis.  You  must  not  hurry;  you  must  not 
be  coarse;  you  must  not  be  careless  and  untidy  with 
your  fly-book.  Take  your  time,  fish  slowly,  surely, 
and  delicately.  Be  not  weary  of  the  play:  banish  the 
thought  of  discouragement,  keep  at  the  sport  for  sport 
alone,  and  study  as  you  angle. 

A  little  trout  will  rise  to  a  fly  he  has  missed  one  or 
more  times;  a  large  trout  will  seldom  do  so.  When 
you  miss  a  big  trout  do  not  give  him  back  the  fly  for 
ten  minutes,  and  then  if  you  miss  him  again,  change 
the  pattern,  wait  a  little  while,  and  he  is  once  more 
ready  for  the  rise — if  the  new  fly  suits  him. 

r  never  raised  a  trout  on  the  scarlet  ibis  fly.  I 
believe  it  is  a  poor  color  on  the  well-fished  waters,  just 
as  I  believe  that  all  flies  are  killing  on  wild  streams. 
New  trout  will  take  old  flies;  old  trout  love  new  ones 
and  many  old  ones.  Personally  I  like  the  sober  colors 
in  flies  for  all  seasons  on  all  water,  though  I  well 


48  THe  Determined  Angler 

appreciate  the  old  rule:  ''When  the  day  is  bright 
and  where  the  water  is  clear,  small  flies  and  plain 
colors;  in  deep  and  dull  waters  and  on  dark  days  and 
in  the  evening  the  brighter  and  larger  ones."  Trout 
do  not  in  all  cases  show  their  liking  to  flies  in  accord- 
ance with  any  condition  of  weather  or  water,  though  as 
a  rule  it  is  advisable  to  use  lighter  colors  when  the  day 
and  water  are  dull,  which  is  not  saying,  however,  that 
fish  will  not  rise  to  loud  flies  on  bright  days  or  sober 
flies  in  dull  weather,  for  the  tastes  of  trout  vary  like 
the  tastes  of  other  living  things,  and  nothing  can 
equal  them  in  erraticness  when  fly-feeding. 

You  must  give  fontinalis  sport,  for  he  very  often 
strikes  for  play  more  than  food,  and,  like  every  other 
living  thing,  loves  a  choice  of  variety. 

There  is  an  old  story  that  if  the  Angler's  book  has  a 
pattern  of  fly  in  exact  imitation  of  the  real  fly  upon  the 
trout  water,  he  has  but  to  join  it  as  the  stretcher  to 
fill  his  creel.  Ogden  tells  us  in  so  many  words :  * '  Give 
not  the  trout  an  exact  imitation  of  the  real  fly  upon 
the  water,  for  your  artificial  fly  will  then  be  one  in  a 
thousand.  Something  startling  will  please  them 
better — ^loud  gold  body,  strange-colored  wings — and 
an  odd  fellow  may  take  it  for  sport  if  nothing  else.** 

While  this  is  a  good  bit  of  advice,  it  does  not  seem 
right  to  me  to  send  it  forth  in  such  a  sweeping  manner. 
The  question  of  whether  we  should  imitate  nature  in 
general  fly  building  has  long  been  in  vogue.  Some 
say  we  should  do  so,  and  others  that  it  does  not  matter. 
Both  are  correct — there  are  times  when  we  should 
copy  the  living  flies,  and  times  when  we  should  use 
those  artificial  things  that  have  no  resemblance  to 
nature's  insects.  I  have  come  upon  a  water  where 
the  trout  were  rising  to  the  small  dusky  miller,  and 


riy-FisHin^  for  Trout  49 

have,  by  putting  on  the  artificial  fly  of  this  order, 
taken  a  dozen  beauties  in  good  play.  It  was  because 
I  arrived  just  in  time;  the  trout  were  not  tired  of  their 
course.  Perhaps  twenty  minutes  later  they  would 
not  have  done  more  than  eyed  my  cast.  In  that  case, 
even  if  the  water  were  covered  with  a  species  of  the 
real  fly,  it  would  have  been  better  to  have  offered 
something  different.  Copy  nature  if  the  fish  be  de- 
vouring— not  alone  because  the  fly  is  on  the  water; 
they  may  be  tired  of  it.  Sometimes  there  are  flies  being 
taken  that  are  not  seen  by  the  Angler,  for  trout  can 
snap  a  fly  upon  the  wing.  Fly-fishing  is  not  an  easy 
pursuit;  'tis  a  real  science.  Rules  are  good,  but  we 
must  not  fail  to  suit  the  rules  to  conditions. 

No;  you  are  not  supposed  to  use  the  entire  list,  for 
to-day  the  trout  may  not  favor  over  two  or  three  of 
them;  to-morrow  he  may  take  six  of  them — all  differ- 
ent from  those  he  may  show  a  liking  for  to-day.  It  is 
all  very  well  for  an  Angler  to  take  but  three  dozen 
coachmen  and  brown  and  gray  hackle  for  the  Western 
trout,  or  any  trout  that  is  not  educated  up  to  the 
standard  of  the  trout  that  is  fished  for  incessantly, 
but  I  should  not  like  to  make  a  month's  trouting  trip 
and  take  along  only  three  kinds  of  flies,  even  if  I  had 
dozens  of  each  of  the  three  and  if  my  favorite  quaker 
were  one  of  the  trio,  no  matter  where  the  stream — 
East,  West,  North,  or  South. 

Some  days  after  my  catch  of  eighteen  I  visited  the 
field  again  and  fished  from  the  point  where  the  stream 
entered  the  wood  down  to  a  beautiful  little  waterfall. 
I  took  twenty-one  of  fair  size — one  on  a  yellow  Sallie, 
one  on  an  oak  fly,  four  on  an  Esquimaux  dun,  five  on  a 
hare's  ear,  and  nine  on  the  quaker.  This  day  I  had 
ninety-three  rises — ^not  as  many  as  on  the  day  I  took 
4 


50  THe  Determined  Angler 

the  eighteen  and  had  two  hundred  and  fifteen  rises. 
The  day  was  dark,  the  water  very  clear  and  shallow, 
and  there  had  been  no  rain  for  ten  days. 

This  was  the  occasion  of  learning  more  about  strik- 
ing the  Eastern  brook  trout  than  I  had  ever  before 
enjoyed.  The  old  rule  is  to  strike  on  the  second  of  the 
rise,  and,  while  I  do  not  think  this  electric  quickness 
should  be  practiced  in  all  cases  and  under  all  condi- 
tions, I  found  it  was  the  rule  this  day,  especially  in  the 
one  deep  pool  I  found.  In  other  places — one  in  partic- 
ular, where  I  saw  six  of  my  catch  make  every  move  in 
taking  the  flies — I  found  it  necessary  to  depart  from 
the  old  rule  and  strike  not  upon  the  second  of  the  rise. 
I  very  often  gave  wrist  too  quickly.  It  all  goes  to 
prove  that  rules  are  not  to  be  exercised  at  all  times  and 
under  all  conditions.  We  must  make  allowances. 
I  came  upon  one  quiet  piece  of  water  that  was  as 
clear  and  still  as  glass;  I  could  see  every  detail  of  the 
pebbles  at  the  bottom.  Eight  pretty  trout  were  in 
this  bed  of  silent  water,  resting  without  a  perceptible 
movement — not  even  that  delicate  wave  of  the  tail 
so  common  with  the  trout  in  his  balancing  in  running 
water.  They  did  not  see  me;  a  bush  hid  my  form. 
When  my  slender  rod-tip  moved  over  the  water  and 
the  leader  with  the  flies  went  down  gently  upon  the 
surface,  the  trout  thought  (all  animals  think)  the  wind 
had  stirred  the  frail  branch  of  an  adjacent  tree  and 
swept  into  the  water  upon  a  cobweb  three  insects  for 
their  feeding.  Four  rushed  for  the  deceit  and  two 
were  hooked  quietly  and  quickly.  I  landed  them  and 
went  away  to  return  to  the  same  spot  a  half-hour  later. 
Seven  trout  were  there  this  time.  I  flailed  gently 
over  them,  but  received  no  rushing  rise;  one  little 
fellow  came  up  deliberately,  broke  water  two  inches 


riy-FisKing  for  Trouit  51 

behind  the  little  dun,  and  then  returned  to  his  old 
position.  Then  two  others  did  precisely  the  same  as 
their  companion  had  done,  excepting  one  that  chose 
the  oak  fly  for  his  inspection.  Then  they  sank  them- 
selves, and  a  fourth  gamester  spurted  up  to  the  dun 
and  took  it  in  his  mouth  much  as  a  sunfish  would  suck 
in  a  bit  of  worm.  I  struck  him,  and  he  made  a  splash 
that  nearly  drove  a  near-by-perched  catbird  into 
hysterics,  and  sent  the  other  trout  up,  down,  and 
across  the  stream  like  so  many  black  streaks  of  light- 
ning. Now,  had  I  cast  at  these  fish  from  above  or  below 
and  not  just  over  them,  where  I  saw  every  move  they 
made,  I  should  have  given  them  wrist  on  the  second 
of  their  rise — as  I  did  in  the  case  of  the  first  two  that 
made  the  first  rush — and  lost  any  chance  of  success. 

No,  I  say,  we  must  not  always  follow  rules  regardless 
of  conditions.  We  must  not  judge  all  trout  alike, 
even  if  they  be  of  one  species.  Men,  though  of  one 
race,  are  not  all  alike  in  their  habits  any  more  than 
they  are  in  their  sizes  and  colors. 

I  found  in  some  parts  of  the  stream  that  as  long  as 
I  changed  the  flies  I  had  rises;  in  other  parts  no  trout 
took  the  fly,  no  matter  how  I  worked  it.  Perhaps 
there  were  no  fish  hereabout;  perhaps  they  saw  me; 
perhaps  they  were  not  hungry,  and  perhaps  there 
were  hundreds  and  thousands  of  other  reasons  why 
they  were  not  to  be  taken  in  these  certain  places. 

No  man  can  strictly  follow  rules  in  all  cases  and 
take  trout  upon  every  occasion  of  his  trials.  Condi- 
tions govern,  and  must  be  studied — conditions, 
conditions. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  angler's  prayer — SAVE  THE  WOODS  AND  WATERS 

"  Perpetual  devotion  to  what  a  man  calls  his  business  is  onl]? 
to  be  sustained  by  perpetual  neglect  of  other  things.  And  it  is 
not  by  any  means  certain  that  a  man's  business  is  the  most  im- 
portant thing  he  has  to  do." 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson. 

Commerce  or  civilization  or  whatever  you  like  to 
call  modern  man*s  accumulation  of  money  wealth  at 
the  sacrifice  of  nature  is  perpetrated  with  no  greater 
force  tha/n  in  the  wanton  waste  of  our  forests — the 
trees  given  by  God  to  the  people  and  stolen  from  the 
people  by  individuals.  It  seems  all  right  for  man  to 
prudently  use  our  forests  in  the  making  of  homes  and 
other  practical  things  of  actual  necessity,  but  it  is  a 
downright  shame  that  the  people  allow  greedy  men  to 
destroy  the  trees  for  the  mere  sake  of  adding  dollars 
to  the  destroyers*  already  well-filled  purses.  And 
these  selfish  men  even  deprive  the  people  of  their 
breathing-air,  drinking-water,  and  fish  food.  Springs, 
ponds,  and  brooks  are  dried  up  by  the  loss  of  sheltering 
foliage.  Lakes  and  rivers  are  ruined  by  the  commer- 
cial gentry's  waste  acid,  dye,  oil,  gas,  etc.,  and  the 
very  air  we  breathe  is  poisoned  by  the  fumes  of  the 
money-makers'  chimneys. 

The  railroads  cut  down  the  people's  trees  to  make 
ties,  and  they  burn  the  old  ties  instead  of  consuming 

52 


Save  tKe  "Woods  and  Waters        53 

them  for  steam  power  or  giving  them  back  to  the 
people  for  fuel  or  fence  posts,  etc.  The  mill  owner 
burns  as  rubbish  the  sawdust  and  slabs  instead  of 
burying  the  sawdust  and  allowing  it  to  turn  into 
loam  that  would  enrich  the  soil  and  thereby  propagate 
vegetable  food  matter  and  the  very  tree  life  the  mill- 
man  wastes.  He  is  not  only  destroying  the  material 
on  hand  but  he  is  doing  his  best  to  prevent  the  growth 
of  future  material.  Slabs  should  not  be  burned  as 
waste  matter;  they  are  good  fuel  and  good  material 
for  the  farmer,  et  aL 

Nothing  should  be  burned  as  waste  matter;  nature 
tells  us  to  bury,  not  burn.  Fire  destroys  not  alone  the 
valuable  ingredient  it  consumes  to  make  itself,  but 
burns  up  the  earth^s  vital  moisture — the  life-giving 
oxygen  we  breathe,  without  which  no  animate  thing 
could  survive. 

Before  fresh  timber  is  cut  for  market-cornering 
purposes,  the  millmen  should  be  compelled  to  use  up 
the  vast  rafts  of  trees  they  have  allowed  to  float  upon 
river  banks,  there  to  rot  while  the  choppers  continue 
their  attack  on  new  trees,  half  of  which  will  go  to 
waste  with  the  lumberman's  already-decaying  market- 
cornering  mess  in  the  flooded  valley. 

Anyone  may  personally  witness  this  wanton  waste 
if  so  inclined:  Take  a  ride  on  the  railroad  between 
Portland,  Oregon,  and  Tacbma,  Washington,  and  note 
the  conditions  en  route;  or  glance  out  of  the  car  window 
as  you  ride  through  the  timberland  district  in  the 
Southern  states — Alabama,  Georgia,  etc. 

Oregon  and  Washington  are  bragging  about  what 
the  native  biped  conceitedly  calls  enterprise,  western 
spirit,  progress,  prosperity,  etc.  Poor  fools!  They 
imagine  the  so-called  prosperity  is  due  to  the  enter- 


54  THe  Determined  Angler 

prise  or  spirit  of  themselves,  while  any  nature  student 
could  tell  them  that  the  business  success  of  any  terri- 
tory is  directly  due  to  that  territory's  material  that  is 
marketed,  and  that  as  soon  as  the  marketable  material 
is  used  up  the  so-called  enterprise,  energy,  spirit,  etc., 
of  the  ego-marketman  go  up  with  it. 

In  Michigan  (Bay  City)  thirty-five  years  ago  the 
wasters  used  to  boast  that  Bay  City  was  going  to  out- 
rival New  York  City  in  size,  intellect,  money  wealth, 
social  standing,  etc.,  in  a  few  years.  All  this  on  a 
little  timber  they  were  cutting  and  selling.  It  was 
remarked  by  a  nature  student  that  the  success  of  their 
ambition  depended  upon  the  pine  trees  they  were 
gradually  consuming — ruthlessly  cutting  down  to 
extermination — and  a  practical  man  suggested  that 
they  plant  and  propagate  as  well  as  cut  and  consume. 
Also  it  was  hinted  that  the  lumber  they  made  out  of 
the  trees  was  the  only  thing  they  had  to  make  possible 
the  social  downfall  of  New  York. 

"Oh,  by  no  means,"  they  said;  ''we  have  enterprise 
and  spirit;  that's  what  counts.*' 

But,  the  count  was  a  failure — the  trees  giving  out, 
Northern  Michigan  was  turned  into  a  sugar-beet  farm, 
and  most  of  the  unfortunates  who  counted  on  making 
Bay  City  outrival  New  York  are  now  of  the  very  dust 
that  nurtures  the  present-day  material  that  their  off- 
spring exists  upon. 

The  Michigan  enterprise,  spirit,  etc.,  is  now  trans- 
ferred to  the  few  other  timberland  States,  and  the 
natives  of  to-day,  the  early  day  of  plenty,  are  just  like 
the  old  conceited  Michiganders — they  foolishly  ima- 
gine the  financial  success  of  their  territory  is  due  to 
so-called  personal  energy,  pride,  enterprise,  progress, 
etc.,  on'the  part  of  themselves,  when  any  naturalist 


Save  tKe  Woods  and  "Waters         55 

knows  that  their  prosperity  is  directly  due  to  God's 
bountifulness — the  abundance  of  marketable  material 
— not  man's  effort  or  egotism. 

When  Oregon  and  Washington  have  lumbered  all 
their  timber  the  "enterprising"  natives  will  not  have 
rivaled  New  York  socially  or  financially  any  more 
than  the  Michigander  has  accomplished  this  end; 
Oregon  and  Washington,  without  timber,  like  Michi- 
gan, will  stay  just  where  they  are — if  lucky  enough 
not  to  go  lower  down  in  the  social  and  financial 
standard — ^when  their  marketable  material  is  ex- 
hausted. 

Climate  Is  a  mere  matter  of  pure  air.  What's  the 
good  in  climate  if  it's  smoked  and  burned?  Any  clean 
climate,  hot  or  cold,  is  better  than  any  soiled  climate, 
hot  or  cold. 

Marketable  material,  pure  air,  and  pure  water  are 
the  three  big  concerns  of  life;  man  isn't  worthy  of 
being  included  in  the  list  of  important  things  because 
he  destroys  these  three  mighty  essentials.  Material 
makes  man  more  than  man  makes  material. 

Man's  energy  and  egotism  couldn't  get  a  footing 
without  marketable  material.  What  the  world  needs 
is  less  of  vain  man  and  more  plain  market  stuff. 

Save  the  woods  and  waters. 


CHAPTER  IX 

TROUT  AND  TROUTING 

i^**A  day  with  not  too  bright  a  beam; 
A  warm,  but  not  a  scorching,  sun." 

— Charles  Cotton. 

Where  can  I  enjoy  trout  fishing  amid  good  scenery 
and  good  cheer  without  its  necessitating  a  lengthy 
absence  from  the  city?  That  is  a  question  which 
frequently  rises  in  the  mind  of  the  toilers  in  the  busy 
centers  of  the  East,  and  it  is  one  becoming  daily  more 
difficult  to  answer.  Yet  there  are  still  nearby  trout 
streams  where  a  creel  of  from  fifteen  to  fifty,  or  even 
more,  in  favorable  weather,  might  be  made.  One 
such  locality,  which  for  years  local  sportsmen  have 
proven,  lies  within  a  four  hours*  ride  of  either  Phila- 
delphia or  New  York.  All  that  is  necessary  is  to  take 
the  railroad,  which  conveys  you  to  Cresco,  in  Monroe 
County,  Pa.,  and  a  ride  or  drive  of  five  miles  through 
the  Pocono  Mountains  will  land  you  in  the  little 
village  of  Canadensis,  in  the  valley  of  the  Brodhead; 
and  within  the  radius  of  a  few  miles  on  either  side 
fully  a  dozen  other  unposted  streams  ripple  along  in 
their  natural  state,  not  boarded,  bridged,  dammed,  or 
fenced  by  the  hand  of  man,  thanks  to  the  naturally 
uncultivatable  condition  of  the  greater  part  of  this 
paradise  for  trout  fishers.    The  villagers  of  Canadensis 

56 


Trout  and  Tro\itin^  57 

do'  their  trading  and  receive  their  mail  at  Cresco,  and 
it  is  an  easy  matter  to  obtain  excellent  food  and  lodg- 
ings for  a  dollar  a  day  at  one  of  the  many  farmhouses 
dotting  here  and  there  the  valleys,  and  a  seat  when 
needful  in  one  of  the  several  private  conveyances 
running  every  day  between  the  two  villages. 

The  open  season  for  trout  in  Pennsylvania  is  from 
April  15th  until  July  15th,  and  there  appears  to  be  no 
particularly  favored  period  during  these  three  months, 
for  the  trout  here  afford  sport  equally  well  at  all 
times,  though  they  greatly  vary  in  their  tastes  for  the 
fly. 

If  the  angler  goes  there  in  the  early  part  of  the 
open  season,  when  the  weather  is  cold,  he  should 
engage  a  room  and  take  his  meals  at  the  farmhouse 
selected;  but  if  the  trip  is  made  in  the  early  part  of 
June  or  any  time  after  that,  during  the  open  season, 
camp  life  may  be  enjoyed  with  great  comfort. 

Two  favorite  waters  within  walking  distance  from 
any  of  the  farmhouses  in  Canadensis  are  Stony  Run 
and  the  Buckhill.  The  great  Brodhead,  a  famous  old 
water  in  the  days  of  Thaddeus  Norris,  and  noted  then 
and  now  for  its  big  trout,  flows  in  the  valley  proper, 
within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  farmhouse  at  which  I 
engaged  quarters.  Spruce  Cabin  Run,  a  mile  distant, 
is  a  charming  stream,  but  the  trout  here  are  not  very 
large  beyond  the  deep  pools  at  the  foot  of  Spruce  Falls 
and  in  the  water  flowing  through  Turner's  fields  and 
woods  above  the  falls. 

Any  of  these  streams  will  afford  plenty  of  sport, 
but  if  one  wishes  to  visit  a  still  more  wild,  romantic, 
and  beautiful  trout  water,  he  has  only  to  walk  a  little 
farther  or  take  a  buckboard  wagon  and  ride  to  the 
mighty  Bushkill,  a  stream  that  must  not  be  confounded 


58  TKe  Determined  Angler 

with  the  Buckhill,  which  lies  in  an  opposite  direction 
from  Canadensis. 

The  Bushkill  is  the  wildest  stream  in  the  region,  and 
is  fished  less  than  any  of  the  others  named,  one  reason 
being  that  there  are  plenty  of  trout  in  the  waters  of 
Canadensis  which  can  be  fished  without  the  Angler 
going  so  far.  For  those  who  like  to  camp,  the  Bush- 
kill  is  the  proper  locality.  I  spent  a  day  there  with 
friends  one  season,  and  we  caught  in  less  than  two 
hours,  in  the  liveliest  possible  manner,  all  the  trout 
five  of  us  could  eat  throughout  the  day,  and  four 
dozen  extra  large  ones  which  we  took  home  to  send 
to  friends  in  the  city. 

**The  trout  in  the  Bushkill,"  remarked  one  of  my 
companions,  *'are  so  wild  that  they're  tame'* — an 
expression  based  upon  the  greediness  and  utter  dis- 
regard of  the  enemy  with  which  fontinalis,  in  his 
unfamiliarity  with  man,  took  the  fly.  I  remember 
having  a  number  of  rises  within  two  feet  of  my  legs 
as  I  was  taking  in  my  line  for  a  front  toss. 

I  know  men  who  have  many  times  traveled  a  thou- 
sand miles  from  New  York  on  an  angling  trip  to 
different  famous  waters  who  have  not  found  either 
the  sport  or  the  scenery  to  be  enjoyed  on  the  Bushkill, 

The  lower  Brodhead  below  the  point  at  which  this 
stream  and  Spruce  Cabin  Run  come  together  is  very 
beautiful.  It  is  owned  by  a  farmer  who  lives  on  its 
banks,  and  who  has  never  been  known  to  refuse 
Anglers  permission  to  fish  there  when  they  asked  for 
the  privilege. 

There  are  four  natural  features  in  the  scenery  about 
Canadensis  that  are  especially  prized  by  the  country- 
men there — the  Sand  Spring,  Buckhill  Falls,  Spruce 
Cabin  Falls,  and  the  Bushkill  Falls. 


Trout  and  Troutin^  59 

The  Sand  Spring  is  so  called  because  grains  of 
brilliant  sand  spring  up  with  the  water.  This  sand 
resembles  a  mixture  of  gold  and  silver  dust ;  it  forms  in 
little  clouds  just  under  the  water*s  bubble  and  then 
settles  down  to  form  and  rise  again  and  again.  This 
effect,  with  the  rich  colors  of  wild  pink  roses,  tiny 
yellow  watercups,  blue  lilies,  and  three  shades  of 
green  in  the  cresses  and  deer  tongue  that  grow  all 
about,  produces  a  pretty  picture.  The  spring  is  not 
over  a  foot  in  diameter,  but  the  sand  edges  and  the 
pool  cover  several  feet.  In  drinking  the  water, 
strange  to  say,  one  does  not  take  any  sand  with  it. 

Being  located  at  one  side  of  the  old  road  between 
Cresco  and  Canadensis  every  visitor  has  an  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  it  without  going  more  than  a  few  feet 
out  of  his  direct  way.  Some  of  the  stories  told  about 
the  old  Sand  Spring  are  worth  hearing,  and  no  one  can 
tell  them  better  or  with  more  special  pleasure  than  the 
farmers  living  thereabout.  One  man  affirms  that 
** more  'an  a  hundred  b'ar  and  as  many  deer  have  been 
killed  while  drinking  the  crystal  water  of  the  spring.*' 

Each  of  the  falls  is  a  picture  of  true  wild  scenery. 
Though  some  miles  apart  they  may  be  here  described 
in  the  same  paragraph. 

Great  trees  have  fallen  over  the  water  from  the 
banks  and  lodged  on  huge  projecting  moss-covered 
rocks;  they  are  additional  obstacles  to  the  rushing, 
roaring,  down-pouring  water,  which  flows  through  and 
over  them  like  melted  silver.  This  against  the  dark 
background  of  the  mountain  woods,  the  blue  and  snow- 
white  of  the  heavens,  the  green  of  the  rhododendron- 
lined  banks,  and  the  streams'  bottoms  of  all-colored 
stones  creates  a  series  of  charming  and  ever-varying 
views. 


6o  THe  Determined  Angler 

A  half  dozen  trout,  weighing  from  one  to  two  pounds 
and  a  half,  may  always  be  seen  about  the  huge  rock 
at  the  point  where  the  lower  Brodhead  and  the  Spruce 
Cabin  Run  come  together,  and  hundreds  may  be  seen 
in  the  stream  below  the  Buckhill  Falls.  I  do  not  know 
that  fish  may  be  actually  seen  in  any  other  parts  of 
the  waters  of  Canadensis,  but  at  these  points  the 
water  is  calm  and  the  bottom  smooth,  and  the  speci- 
mens are  plainly  in  view. 

Do  not  waste  time  on  the  ''flock"  lying  about  the 
big  rock  at  Brodhead  Point.  The  trout  there  will 
deceive  you.  I  played  with  them  a  half  day,  and 
before  I  began  work  on  them  I  felt  certain  I  would 
have  them  in  my  creel  in  a  half-hour's  time.  They  are 
a  pack  of  pampered  idlers  who  do  not  have  to  move  a 
fin  to  feed.  All  the  trout  food  comes  rushing  down 
both  streams  from  behind  these  big  rocks  into  the 
silent  water  and  floats  right  up  to  the  very  noses  of 
these  gentlemen  of  leisure.  If  you  have  any  practicing 
to  do  with  the  rod  and  fly  do  it  here.  These  trout  are 
very  obliging;  they  will  lie  there  all  day  and  enjoy 
your  casting  all  sorts  of  things  at  them.  This  is  a  good 
place  to  prove  to  yourself  whether  you  are  a  patient 
fisherman  or  not. 

And  now  a  few  words  about  the  proper  tackle  for 
mountain  streams.  Most  anglers  use  rods  that  are 
too  heavy  and  too  long.  During  my  first  visit  I  used 
a  rod  of  eight  feet,  four  ounces,  and  I  soon  found  that, 
while  it  was  a  nice  weight,  it  was  too  long  for  real 
convenience,  although  there  were  rods  used  there 
nine  and  ten  feet  long.  My  rod  was  the  lightest  and 
one  of  the  shortest  ever  seen  in  the  valley.  There  are 
only  a  few  open  spots  where  long  casts  are  necessary, 
and  a  long,  ordinary-weight  trout  rod  is  of  very  little 


Trout  and  Troiatin^  6i 

service  compared  with  one  of  seven,  seven  and  a  half, 
or  eight  feet,  four  or  three  ounces,  that  can  be  handled 
well  along  the  narrow,  bush-lined,  tree-branch-covered 
streams. 

The  greater  part  of  the  fishing  is  done  by  sneaking 
along  under  cover  of  the  rocks,  logs,  bushes,  and  the 
low-hanging  branches,  as  casts  are  made  in  every  little 
pool  and  eddy.  I  use  a  lancewood  rod,  but  of  course 
the  higher-priced  popular  split  bamboo  is  just  as  good. 
I  shall  not  claim  my  rod's  material  is  the  better  of  the 
two,  as  some  men  do  when  speaking  of  their  tackle, 
but  I  am  quite  sure  I  shall  never  say  the  split  bamboo 
is  more  than  its  equal.  I  do  not  advise  as  to  the 
material;  I  speak  only  of  the  weight  and  length.  Let 
every  man  use  his  choice,  but  I  seriously  advise  him  to 
avoid  the  cheap-priced  split  bamboo  rod. 

If  split  bamboo  is  the  choice,  let  it  be  the  work  of  a 
practical  rod-maker.  Any  ordinary  wood  rod  is 
better  than  the  four-dollar  split  bamboo  affair. 

The  leader  should  be  of  single  gut,  but  the  length 
should  be  a  trifle  more  than  is  commonly  used. 
Twelve  feet  is  my  favorite  amount.  The  reel  should 
be  the  lightest  common  click  reel ;  the  creel,  a  willow 
one  that  sells  for  a  dollar  in  the  stores;  and  the  flies — 
here's  the  rub — must  be  the  smallest  and  finest  in  the 
market.  Large,  cheap,  coarse  flies  will  never  do  for 
Eastern  waters,  and  you  must  not  fail  to  secure  your 
list  of  the  proper  kind,  as  well  as  all  your  outfit,  before 
you  start  on  your  trip.  The  only  decent  thing  on 
sale  in  the  village  stores  is  tobacco. 

When  you  buy  your  flies  buy  lots  of  them,  for,  be 
you  a  tyro  or  practical  Angler,  you  will  lose  them 
easier  on  these  streams  than  you  imagine.  Yes,  you 
must  be  very  careful  about  the  selection  of  your  flies. 


62  THe  Determined  Angler 

They  must  be  small  and  finely  made,  high-priced  goods. 
I  wish  I  might  tell  you  who  to  have  make  them,  but  I 
dare  not,  lest  I  be  charged  with  advertising  a  particu- 
lar house.  Regarding  the  patterns  to  use,  I  will  say 
that  none  are  more  killing  than  the  general  list,  if 
they  are  the  best  made  and  used  according  to  the  old 
rule  all  are  familiar  with — dark  colors  on  cold  days  and 
bright  ones  on  warm  days.  The  later  the  season  the 
louder  the  fly — that  is,  when  the  season  closes  during 
hot  weather,  as  it  does  in  Canadensis.  My  favorite 
time  here  is  from  June  15th  to  July  15th,  the  closing 
day,  but  any  time  after  the  first  two  weeks  of  the  open 
season  is  very  charming.  I  avoid  the  first  week  or 
two  because  the  weather  is  then  cold  and  the  trout  are 
more  fond  of  natural  bait  than  the  artificial  fly.  Men 
take  hundreds  of  fish  early  in  the  season  with  worms 
and  minnows. 

I  never  wear  rubber  boots  to  wade  in.  An  old  pair 
of  heavy-soled  shoes  with  spikes  in  their  bottoms,  and 
small  slits  cut  in  the  sides  to  let  the  water  in  and  out, 
and  a  pair  of  heavy  woolen  socks  comprise  my  wading 
footwear.  The  slits  must  not  be  large  enough  to  let  in 
coarse  sand  and  pebbles,  but  I  find  it  absolutely 
necessary  to  have  a  slight  opening,  for  if  there  be  no 
means  for  the  water  to  run  freely  in  and  out,  the  shoes 
fill  from  the  tops  and  become  heavy.  Rubber  boots 
are  too  hot  for  my  feet  and  legs,  while  the  water  is 
never  too  cold.  I  have  often  had  wet  feet  all  day,  and 
have  never  yet  experienced  any  ill  effects  from  it. 

I  never  use  a  staff  in  wading,  but  I  should,  for  here 
in  some  places  it  is  very  hard  to  wade.  I  have  often 
fallen  down  in  water  up  to  my  waist,  overbalanced  by 
the  heavy  current,  where  the  bottoms  were  rough, 
with  sharp,  slimy  stones.    If  you  carry  a  staff,  follow 


Tro\it  and  Troviting  63 

the  custom  of  the  old  Anglers  and  tie  it  to  your  body 
with  a  string  to  keep  it  out  of  the  way  and  allow  your 
hands  to  be  as  free  as  possible  for  a  strike.  Your 
landmg-net  should  be  a  small  one,  minus  any  metal, 
with  a  foot  and  a  half  handle,  and  a  string  tied  to  a 
front  button  on  your  garment  should  allow  it  to  be 
slung  over  your  shoulder  onto  your  back  when  not  in 
use. 

Of  course,  these  little  points  about  the  use  of  differ- 
ent things  are  all  familiar  to  the  Angler  with  but  the 
slightest  experience,  and  will  appear  to  him  neither 
instructive  nor  interesting,  but  we  must,  as  gentle 
Anglers,  give  a  thought  or  two  to  the  earnest  tyro, 
for  we  were  young  once  ourselves. 

I  always  carry  two  fly-books  with  me ;  one  big  fellow 
with  the  general  fly  stock  in,  which  is  kept  at  the 
farmhouse,  and  a  little  one  holding  two  dozen  flies 
and  a  dozen  leaders,  which  I  carry  on  the  stream. 
A  string  tied  to  this,  too,  will  prevent  the  unpleasant- 
ness of  having  it  fall  in  the  water  and  glide  away  from 
you.  I  even  tie  a  string  to  my  pipe  and  knife.  The 
outing  hat  is  an  important  thing  to  me.  Mine  is 
always  a  soft  brown  or  gray  felt,  and  I  use  it  to  sit  on 
in  damp  and  hard  places  fifty  times  a  day. 


CHAPTER  X 

TROUTING  IN  CANADENSIS  VALLEY 

The  Canadensis  Valley  in  Monroe  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, is  a  fontinalis  paradise.  With  my  friend 
George  Blake  I  creeled  the  little  heroes  by  the  dozen 
every  day  for  a  week.  We  each  could  have  easily 
caught  fifty  in  an  afternoon  had  we  cared  to  do  so,  but 
there  were  other  rural  pleasures  to  attend  to,  and  we 
were  not  dealing  in  fish,  and  saw  more  beauty  in  just 
enough  to  eat  than  in  wasteful  quantity.  Fishermen 
are  generally  known  as  exaggerators,  and  I  do  not 
deny  that  they  do  sometimes  resort  to  an  innocent 
little  fib  when  a  yarn  may  amuse  many  and  injure  no 
one,  but  I  must  say  that  this  region*s  beauties  are  too 
numerous  to  overpraise  by  all  the  exaggeration  of  all 
the  fabricators  in  the  world.  No  word  of  mouth  or 
pen  could  do  justice  to  nature  in  these  mountains. 
And  I  need  not  elaborate  on  the  fish;  the  truth  is 
bold  enough. 

Brook  trout  weighing  a  quarter  of  a  pound  to  a 
pound  and  a  half  are  taken  every  day  by  Anglers,  who 
more  than  fill  their  creels.  Two  gentlemen  took  in 
one  day  sixty-five  beauties  on  the  stream  known  as 
Stony  Run,  and  two  Philadelphia  Anglers  took  half 
a  hundred  the  day  before  above  the  Buckhill  Falls. 
Another  great  stream  in  this  region  is  the  Bushkill, 
and  still  another  is  Brodhead's  Creek.     The  latter 

64 


Troviting  in  Canadensis  Valley      65 

flows  past  our  camp,  and  is  famous  for  big  trout.  My 
favorite  is  Spruce  Cabin  Stream,  above  and  below  the 
beautiful  Spruce  Cabin  Falls.  There  are  big  trout  in 
this  water,  especially  at  the  bottom  of  the  falls,  and  I 
can — if  I  will — take  fifty  trout  in  an  afternoon,  and 
they'll  weigh  from  a  quarter  of  a  pound  to  one  pound 
and  a  half.  I  like  something  besides  fish  about  a 
stream,  and  this  is  why  I  am  fond  of  the  Spruce  Cabin 
water. 

There  are  not  many  Anglers  in  love  with  the  place. 
Though  beautiful,  it  is  very  hard  to  fish.  I  have  to 
creep  under  great  trees  that  have  fallen  over  the  water 
and  then  wade  up  to  my  waist  to  gain  certain  points 
in  order  to  get  along  down  the  stream.  The  banks  are 
lined  with  trees  and  shrubbery,  and  my  line  is  ever 
getting  tangled.  One  does  not  need  to  be  a  fly-casting 
tournament  Angler  to  fish  any  of  the  Canadensis 
waters.  Distance  in  the  cast  is  not  required  as  much 
as  accuracy  at  more  than  one  or  two  places  on  each 
stream.  The  rest  of  the  fishing  is  done  by  short,  low 
casts,  and  by  creeping  under  branches  and  letting  the 
line  float  with  the  ripples  into  the  eddies.  Every  step 
or  two  there  are  little  falls,  and  in  the  white,  bubbling 
water  at  their  bottom  a  trout  may  be  taken.  Under 
the  big  fall,  and  in  the  still  waters  above  and  below, 
the  big  trout  hide. 

Artificial  flies  are  the  popular  bait  with  the  gentle 
Angler,  though  all  sizes  of  trout  will  take  worms,  and 
the  big,  educated  trout  like  minnows.  Both  small, 
medium,  and  large  trout  like  flies  if  the  flies  are  the 
right  kind.  We  have  had  great  trouble  in  getting  good 
flies.  I  brought  four  dozen  with  me,  and  not  over  a 
half  dozen  of  them  are  worth  the  snell  tied  to  them; 
they  are  too  clumsy  in  size,  of  coarse  material,  and 
5 


66  TKe  Determined  Angler 

bad  in  color.  The  six  decent  ones  are  the  work  of  an 
artist.  I  could  give  his  name,  but  it  might  look  like 
an  advertisement  and  spoil  my  story.  Trout  like 
choice  food  just  as  much  as  human  beings  favor  savory 
dishes.  You  may  stick  an  oyster  shell  on  a  reed,  and 
decoy  a  summer  yellowleg,  but  you  can't  hook  a 
trout  on  any  kind  of  a  fly.     They  know  a  thing  or  two. 

Tyros  who  angle  m  a  trout  country  without  success 
go  home  and  say  there  are  no  trout.  They  don't  think 
about  conditions  of  water  and  weather;  about  their 
line  lighting  in  the  water  before  their  bait;  about  their 
coarse  line  and  poor  flies. 

Trout  are  philosophers,  not  only  the  educated  ones, 
those  which  have  been  hooked  and  seen  others  hooked, 
but  trout  in  general.  They're  born  that  way.  A  young 
man  came  up  here  the  other  day  with  an  old  cane  pole, 
weighing  fully  three  pounds,  and  a  big  salt  water 
sinker,  and  he  went  away  saying  there  were  few  trout 
in  these  waters.  I  think  he  had  a  float  with  him,  too, 
but  am  not  sure. 

A  word  or  two  about  appropriate  tackle  for  moun- 
tain streams,  and  I'll  put  up  the  pen  and  joint  the  rod 
again.  In  the  city  a  few  weeks  ago  I  proudly  displayed 
a  four-ounce,  nine-foot  lancewood  rod,  and  my 
friends  laughed  at  me,  saying  it  was  too  frail  for  any 
service.  Now,  I  find  this  rod,  shortened  two  feet, 
just  the  thing  for  this  country  where  trout  run  small 
and  where  there's  no  long  casting.  I  frequently  run 
across  good  Anglers  here  with  five-ounce  rods,  and 
have  seen  two  four-ounce  rods.  There  is  no  use  for  a 
rod  above  four  ounces  in  weight  and  seven  feet  in 
length.  When  I  come  again  I  shall  use  a  three-ounce 
rod.  The  reel  should  be  the  lightest  and  smallest 
common  click,  and  the  line  the  finest  enameled  silk, 


Xro-utin^  in  Canadensis  Valley      67 

tapered  if  you  like.  The  flies — here's  the  main  thing 
— should  be  the  best,  and  of  the  smallest  brook  trout 
pattern.  Next  year,  when  I  make  up  my  supply,  I'll 
pack  fully  two  hundred,  and  they'll  be  the  dearest- 
priced  flies,  for  they  are  none  too  good. 

Oh,  I  must  say  a  word  about  cooking  and  eating 
trout  before  I  close.  I've  tried  them  in  all  styles,  and 
the  best  way,  I  think,  is  when  they're  roasted  over  a 
camp 'fire  on  a  little  crotch  stick,  one  prong  in  the  head 
and  the  other  in  the  tail.  And  the  worst  way,  I  think, 
is  when  they're  fried  in  a  pan  with  bad  butter  or  poor 
lard. 

Blake  and  I  are  in  our  glory.  Our  only  displeasure 
IS  in  knowing  that  our  perspiring  city  friends  are  not  as 
comfortable.  The  days  here  are  warm  and  bright — 
not  hot  and  close — and  the  nights  cool  and  clear,  so 
that  we  live  merrily  all  the  time. 

I  went  a  few  hundred  yards  down  the  stream  in 
front  of  the  camp  to  two  great  bowlders,  one  morning, 
and  there,  during  a  little  sun  shower,  took  a  Salvelinus 
fontinalis  that  weighed  just  a  little  over  two  pounds 
and  a  quarter.  He  rose  to  a  pinkish,  cream-colored 
fly,  with  little  brown  spots  on  the  wings.  I  forget  its 
name,  but  it's  one  of  the  six  really  good  ones  I  referred 
to.  I  decided  to  keep  the  large  captive  alive,  so  I  took 
off  one  of  the  cords  tied  about  my  trousers  at  the  bot- 
toms (I  never  wear  wading  boots  in  warm  weather), 
put  it  through  his  gill,  and  tied  the  other  end  to  a 
submerged  tree-root.  Later,  Mr.  Trout  was  lodged  in 
a  small  box,  with  bars  tacked  over  the  top,  and  placed 
under  a  spout  running  from  an  old  mill  race.  He  was  a 
big  specimen — large  enough  to  saddle  and  ride  to  town, 
the  cook  said.  And  pretty — as  pretty  as  a  gathering  of 
lilacs  and  giant  ferns  decked  with  wintergreen  berries. 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE  TROUTER's  OUTFIT 

The  rod  for  stream  fishing  should  weigh  from  three 
to  six  ounces  and  measure  in  length  from  seven  to 
nine  feet.  Split  bamboo  and  lancewood  are  two  of 
the  best  rod  materials.  If  you  cannot  afford  a  good 
split  bamboo  do  not  buy  a  cheap  one;  choose  a  lance- 
wood. 

The  line  should  be  a  small-sized  waterproofed  silk 
one.  The  reel,  a  small  common  light  rubber  click, 
holding  twenty-five  or  thirty-five  yards. 

The  landing  net,  used  to  take  the  fish  from  the  water 
after  being  hooked,  should  be  made  of  cane  with  linen 
netting,  and  have  no  metal  about  it.  The  handle 
should  be  about  a  foot  long.  Tie  a  string  to  the  handle, 
tie  the  string  to  a  button  on  your  coat  under  your  chin, 
and  then  toss  the  net  over  your  back  out  of  the  way. 

The  creel,  or  fish  basket,  should  be  a  willow  one 
about  the  size  of  a  small  hand  satchel.  This  should 
have  a  leather  strap,  to  be  slung  over  the  right 
shoulder,  allowing  the  creel  to  rest  on  the  left  hip. 

The  hat  should  be  a  soft  brown  or  gray  felt  with  two- 
inch  brim.  This  may  be  used  as  a  cushion  to  sit  down 
upon  on  rocks  or  in  damp  places. 

The  footwear  may  be  either  rubber  boots,  leather 
shoes,  or  rubber  wading  trousers.  If  the  water  is 
warm,  wear  leather  shoes,  and  have  nails  put  in  the 

68 


The  Troviter's  0\Jtfit  69 

thick  soles  to  keep  your  feet  from  slipping  in  swift 
water  and  on  slimy  stones.  If  you  choose  rubber  boots 
see  that  they  are  of  the  light,  thin,  thigh-fitting  sort 
and  not  the  clumsy  affairs  with  straps  attached. 

The  fly-book  for  use  on  the  stream  should  have  room 
for  not  more  than  a  dozen  flies,  with  pockets  for 
leaders,  silk  cord,  small  shears,  and  other  tools.  A 
larger  book  for  your  general  stock  of  flies  and  leaders 
may  be  left  at  your  rural  lodgings  with  your  tackle 
box  and  other  traps. 

The  leader,  to  which  are  attached  the  flies  in  use, 
should  be  of  the  flnest  quality  of  single  silk  gut,  and  in 
length  three  feet.  Two  of  these  attached  make  a  cast, 
though  I  prefer  a  longer  cast  of  leader. 

The  coat  and  general  clothing  should  be  of  a  dead- 
grass,  gray,  or  light  brown  color.  Have  plenty  of 
pockets,  and  tie  a  string  to  nearly  everything  you  carry 
in  them,  so  you  cannot  lose  them  if  they  fall  from  your 
hands. 

The  flies — every  known  variety  of  trout  fly,  provid- 
ing you  order  these  of  the  flnest  make. 

Do  not  undertake  to  go  trouting  stintingly  equipped, 
which  is  not  saying  that  you  are  to  dress  and  act  like 
a  circus  clown.  But  you  must  be  properly  outfitted. 
Good  carpenters  make  good  houses,  but  their  work  is 
better  and  more  pleasant  if  they  have  good  tools. 

The  tyro  who  is  not  fortunate  enough  to  have  the 
friendship  of  a  practical  fisherman  to  whom  he  may 
apply  for  advice  should  read  the  works  on  angling  and 
ichthyology  by  Izaak  Walton,  Henry  William  Herbert 
("Frank  Forester"),  Seth  Green,  Charles  Hallock, 
Wm.  C.  Harris,  Thaddeus  Norris,  Genio  C.  Scott, 
Frederick  Mather,  Robert  Roosevelt,  G.  Brown 
Goode,  Kit  Clarke,   Dr.  Jas.  A.  Henshall,  Charles 


70  TKe  Determined  Angler 

Zibeon  Southard,  Dr.  Edward  Breck,  Emlyn  M.  Gill, 
George  M.  L.  LaBranche,  Louis  Rhead,  Eugene 
McCarthy,  Dr.  Henry  van  Dyke,  David  Starr  Jordan, 
Dr.  Evermann,  Prof.  Baird,  Tarlton  H.  Bean,  Richard 
Marston,  Frederick  E.  Pond  (*'Will  Wildwood"), 
Mary  Orvis  Marbury,  A.  Nelson  Cheney,  Charles  F. 
Orvis,  Dr.  Charles  Frederick  Holder,  Perry  D.  Frazer, 
Emerson  Hough,  Rowland  E.  Robinson,  Isaac  Mc- 
Lellan,  Francis  EndicotL,  Dean  Sage,  Wm.  C.  Prime, 
Henry  P.  Wells,  Judge  Northrup,  John  Harrington 
Keene,  et  at,  and  make  a  study  of  the  catalogues  of  the 
better  class  of  sporting-goods  houses. 


CHAPTER  XII 

TROUT  FLIES,  ARTIFICIAL  AND  NATURAL 

**The  wide  range  of  difference  between  the  wet  fly 
and  the  dry  fly  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  wet  fly  is  an 
imitation  of  no  special  thing  active  and  living,  while 
the  dry  fly  purports  to  be  an  imitation  of  the  natural 
fly.  It  is  generally  a  well-known  fact  that  any  of  our 
well-known  American  wet  flies  can  be  converted  into 
exceptionally  good  dry  flies  by  giving  them  an  ablu- 
tion of  oil." — Robert  Page  Lincoln,  Outdoor  Life, 
September,  191 5. 

Then  the  wet  fly  resembles  the  dry  fly,  and  there- 
fore the  wet  fly  is  an  imitation  of  the  living  fly.  Of 
course  it  is.  Is  not  the  artificial  black  gnat  imitative 
of  the  live  black  gnat?  And  is  not  the  white  miller 
artificial  fly  patterned  after  the  living  white  miller 
fly?  Certainly.  Mary  Orvis  Marbury,  author  of 
Favorite  Flies,  and  daughter  of  Charles  P.  Orvis,  one 
of  America's  greatest  fly-makers,  says  so.  So  says 
William  C.  Harris,  Seth  Green,  Frank  Forester,  Louis 
Rhead,  A.  Nelson  Cheney,  Frederick  Mather,  Dr. 
Henshall,  Charles  Hallock,  Dean  Sage,  William  C. 
Prime,  Charles  Z.  Southard,  Dr.  van  Dyke»  Edward 
Breck,  et  al. 

All  angling  writers  in  discoursing  upon  artiflcial 
flies  use  the  expressions  *'  in  season, ''  *'  seasonable  flies," 
etc.    Now,  how  could  this  or  that  artificial  fly  be  in 

71 


72  THe  Determined  Angler 

season  if  it  were  not  copied  from  the  living  fly?  Of 
course,  there  are  some  artificial  flies  that  are  not 
copied  from  nature,  but  the  artificial  fly  in  general  is  a 
duplicate  of  the  living  thing.  ''When  a  fly  is  said  to 
be  in  season, "  says  Alfred  Ronalds,  ''it  does  not  follow 
that  it  is  abroad  on  every  day  of  its  existence.'* 
But,  our  opinions  must  not  be  harshly  expressed — 
rather  set  forth  "in  pleasant  discourse,"  as  Walton 
says — for,  as  Pritt  tells  us,  "one  of  the  charms  of 
angling  is  that  it  presents  an  endless  field  for  argument, 
speculation,  and  experiment." 

After  the  foregoing  excerpt  and  my  comment  upon 
it  appeared  in  the  New  York  Press  (Sept.  ii,  1915), 
I  wrote  several  of  the  authorities  mentioned,  asking 
their  views  on  the  subject,  and  following  will  be  found 
their  replies. 

Henry  van  Dyke,  author  of  Little  Rivers,  Days  Off, 
Fisherman's  Luck,  etc. : 

For  flies  as  "wet,"  or  flies  as  "dry," 

I  do  not  care  a  whit — not  I ! 

The  natural  fly  is  dry,  no  doubt. 

While  through  the  air  he  flits  about; 

But,  lighting  on  the  stream,  you  bet 

He  very  often  gets  quite  wet. 

This  fact  is  known  to  all  the  fish ; 

They  take  their  flies  just  as  they  wish, 

Upon  the  surface  or  below. 

Precisely  why  we  do  not  know. 

The  honest  Angler  should  not  be 

A  man  of  rigid  theory. 

But  use  the  most  alluring  fly, 

And  sometimes  "wet,"  and  sometimes  "dry." 

Louis  Rhead,  author  of  The  Book  of  Fish  and  Fishing: 
*' After  thirty-two  years'  active  fishing  for  trout, 
beginning  with  a  worm  as  a  bait,  I  have  developed 


Trovit  Flies,    Artificial  and  Natural  73 

through  various  stages  to  know  fish  with  nothing  but 
my  own  nature  flies.  I  have  made  careful  color  pic- 
tures of  all  the  most  abundant  insects  and  produced 
flies  tied  to  exactly  imitate  them.  Many  insects  do 
not  and  cannot  float,  yet  an  imitation  can  be  made 
of  them  to  fish  wet.  The  English  dry  fly  is  not  of 
necessity  a  copy  of  the  natural  insect.  Halford  has 
many  fancy  dry  flies  that  are  not  copies  of  insects. 
Nearly  all  American  commercial  trout  flies  are  fancy 
flies,  and  do  not  imitate  insects.  To  be  exact,  in  fishing 
with  a  floating  fly  it  is  only  right  to  use  copies  of  in- 
sects that  will  float,  mostly  drakes.  The  average 
Angler  has  been  sadly  fooled  by  this  so-called  dry-fly 
fishing,  and  books  have  been  written  (mostly  culled 
from  British  sources),  making  Anglers  more  bewildered 
than  ever." 

Charles  Zibeon  Southard,  author  of  Trout  Fly- 
Fishing  in  America:  ''In  reply  to  your  question 
about  trout  flies,  'Am  I  right?'  I  would  say  that 
unquestionably  you  are.  From  the  earliest  days  of 
trout  fly-fishing  it  has  been  the  intention  of  Anglers 
to  have  their  flies  resemble  as  far  as  possible  the 
natural  ones  found  upon  their  trout  waters.  One  has 
only  to  read  dear  old  Izaak  Walton  and  the  many  noted 
fly-fishing  authorities  that  have  followed  to  the 
present  day  to  be  convinced  of  your  view.  Of  course 
the  art  of  fly-tying  has  advanced  with  mighty  strides 
during  the  past  fifteen  years  and  more  especially 
during  the  past  ten  years,  and  to  the  makers  of  'dry' 
flies  for  the  wonderful  development  of  the  artificial 
fly  too  much  credit,  in  my  judgment,  cannot  be  given. 
That  wet  flies  are  not  such  remarkable  imitations  of 
the  natural  flies  as  are  the  dry  flies  goes  almost  with- 
out saying.    As  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  not  the  question 


74  THe  Determined  Angler 

which  fly  is  the  better  imitation,  but  that  both  the 
wet  fly  and  the  dry  fly  are  patterned,  in  most  cases, 
after  the  natural  flies.  From  the  time  of  Walton  and 
before  that,  wet  flies  have  been  patterned  after  natural 
flies.  In  many  instances  nowadays  wet  flies  are  not 
designed  to  represent  natural  flies,  but  such  flies  are 
freaks,  are  short-lived,  and  are  seldom  used  by  real 
trout  fly-fishermen.  There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind 
that  taken  as  a  whole  wet  flies  have  been  intended  to 
represent  natural  flies,  but  quite  often  in  the  past  and 
in  the  present  day  have  not  been  and  are  not  good 
imitations.  As  the  art  of  fly-tying  has  advanced,  more 
nearly  do  the  artificial  represent  the  natural  flies,  and 
this  advancement  is  due,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the 
makers  of  dry  flies.  Speaking  from  a  practical  stand- 
point, the  so-called  dry  flies  are  the  very  best  wet  flies 
obtainable,  and  on  most  American  trout  waters  more 
trout  will  be  caught  on  them  when  fished  wet  than 
when  fished  dry,  especially  the  fontinalis.'* 

Dr.  James  A.  Henshall,  author  of  The  Book  of  the 
Black  Bass:  *' Regarding  the  *  Trout  Flies*  clipping 
sent  me  for  comment  I  think  the  mention  of  my  name 
in  it  is  sufficient  without  adding  anything  more." 

Dr.  Edward  Breck,  author  of  The  Way  of  the  Woods , 
etc.:  "I  suppose  that  I  may  subscribe  to  your  para- 
graph in  answer  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  We  old  chaps  all 
know  that  laying  down  any  hard  and  fast  rules  for 
trout  is  a  futile  undertaking;  there  are  so  many 
exceptions,  and  les  extremes  se  touchent  so  very  often. 
Many  wet  flies  are  certainly  not  imitations  of  natural 
flies  nor  are  they  meant  to  be;  as,  for  example,  the 
Parmachenee  belle,  which  they  say  Wells  fashioned  to 
imitate  the  belly-fin  of  a  trout,  always  known  to  be  a 
killing  lure.     'Non-university'   trout  grab  anything 


Xro-ut  Flies,    Artificial  and  Natural  75 

that  looks  like  food,  whether  it  has  the  appearance  of 
an  insect  or  something  else.  The  more  educated  fish 
of  the  more  southern  waters  may  make  finer  distinc- 
tions. It  is  a  vast  subject,  and  as  many  authorities 
may  be  found  for  almost  any  statement  as  for  the 
several  pronunciations  of  the  word  'Byzantine.'  You 
remember  the  scoffing  English  Angler  who  dyed  his 
dry  flies  blue  and  red  and  took  a  lot  of  fish  with  them, 
to  the  scandal  of  the  purists !  The  charm  of  the  whole 
thing  is  precisely  that  there  are  no  rules.  It  is  like 
style  in  writing  English.  Every  man  makes  his  own. 
Whether  it  is  more  pleasing  in  the  sight  of  Saint  Izaak 
to  wait  for  a  fish  to  begin  feeding  before  casting  over 
him,  or  for  a  man  to  sally  forth,  and,  by  dint  of 
knowledge  and  patience  and  skill,  actually  make  the 
trout  rise  to  his  lure,  what  arrogant  mortal  shall 
judge?" 

Robert  Page  Lincoln :  *'  Perhaps  I  should  have  said 
some  wet  flies  are  an  imitation  of  no  special  object 
connected  with  living  things.  In  the  list  of  wet  flies 
there  are  experimentations  galore  that  will  serve  as 
well  as  any  of  the  standard  regulation  flies.  I  can  sit 
down  and  construct  offhand  a  fly  to  be  used  as  wet  or 
submerged  that  I  feel  sure  I  can  use  with  as  much 
success  as  with  the  miller,  gnat,  or  any  other  fly  that  is 
no  doubt  much  on  the  order  of  an  imitation  of  the 
natural.  Perhaps  in  writing  the  article  I  was  thinking 
too  deeply  of  the  eccentric  nondescripts  that  do  not 
imitate  nature.  Yet  these  nondescripts  (flies  tied 
anyway  to  suit  the  fancy),  yet  h^vmg  hackle  wings, 
etc.,  will  get  the  fish;  they  are  drawn  in  the  water 
gently  back  and  forth,  thus  purporting  to  be  some 
insect  drowning;  yet  I  doubt  very  much  if  the  fish 
can  tell  what  sort  of  a  fly,  living  fly,  it  should  be.     I 


76  THe  Determined  Angler 

do  not  care;  it  is"  the  motion,  the  apparent  endeavor 
of  the]fly  to  get  out  of  that  watery  prison  that  arouses 
the  fish's  blood.  However,  Halford  says:  *The 
modern  theory  is  that  these  patterns  (the  wet  flies) 
are  taken  by  the  fish  for  the  nymphse  or  pupse — these 
being  the  scientific  names  of  the  immature  insects  at 
the  stage  immediately  preceding  the  winged  form.  .  .  . 
Candidly,  however,  the  presence  of  the  wings  in  the 
sunk  fly  pattern  has  puzzled  me,  because  in  my 
experience  I  have  never  seen  the  winged  insects 
submerged  by  the  action  of  the  stream.  Sedges  do  at 
times  descend  to  oviposit  and  so  do  certain  spinners, 
but  the  appearance  under  this  condition,  with  an  air 
bubble  between  their  wings,  resembles  nothing  so 
much  as  a  globe  of  mercury — an  appearance  which 
bears  no  resemblance  to  the  ordinary  sunk  fly  pat- 
terns.' I  have  been  strictly  a  devotee  to  the  wet-fly 
form,  and  always  hold  that  it  is  the  better  fly  for  our 
swift  Western  streams;  in  the  wet  form  certainly  it  is 
the  better  fly  two  thirds  of  the  time.  Still,  glassy 
pools,  even  smooth  waters,  come  few  and  far  between, 
but,  where  they  are,  there  the  dry  fly  is  a  valuable 
addition  to  the  Angler's  outfit.  You  might  change 
my  article  (in  the  paragraph  in  question)  to  read 
thus :  *  The  wide  range  of  difference  between  some  wet 
flies  and  the  dry  fly  lies  in  the  fact  that  a  good  number 
of  wet  flies  are  an  imitation  of  no  special  thing  active 
and  living,  while  the  majority  of  the  dry  flies  purport 
to  be  an  imitation  of  natural  flies. '  This  would  exclude 
the  wet  flies  that  make  good  dry  flies,  namely  the 
suggested  millers,  gnats,  etc.  It  would  be  interesting 
to  know  the  number  of  captures  made  with  wet  flies 
as  they  fall  lightly  to  water  and  for  a  moment  ride  the 
brim.    Captures  have  been  made  wherein  two  thirds 


Trovxt  Flies,    Artij&cial  and  Natviral  77 

of  the  time  the  wet  fly  has  lain  on  the  surface  but  a 
scant  moment  before  it  was  seized.  In  my  great 
number  of  articles  printed  in  the  universal  outdoor 
press  I  have  always  suggested  that  the  fly  be  cast 
easily  to  water,  expecting,  first,  a  rise  as  it  lies  on  the 
surface;  second,  failing  at  this,  then  the  fly  submerges 
and  is  drawn  in  the  water,  to  assure  the  opening  and 
closing  of  hackles,  thus  purporting  to  imitate  the 
drowning,  struggling  insect.  '* 

Charles  Hallock,  author  of  The  Sportsman's  Gazetteer, 
The  Salmon  Fishery  etc.:  **I  have  nothing  more  to 
say.  I  hung  up  my  trout  rod  last  summer  at  Chester- 
fleld,  M^ass.,  in  my  eighty-second  year.  So,  my  fly- 
book  is  closed.  Let  younger  Anglers  do  the  talking 
and  discuss  ad  infinitum.  Flies  are  not  on  my  line. 
Good-bye." 

"  To  frame  the  little  animal 
Let  nature  guide  thee. " 

—Gay. 

TROUT   TAKING  THE  FLY 

"You  will  observe  when  casting  the  wet  fly  .  .  . 
that  trout  seldom  rise  to  the  fly  when  it  first  strikes 
the  water  .  .  .  after  years  of  experience  I  am  pre- 
pared to  state  as  my  opinion  that  such  a  thing  does 
not  happen  once  in  thirty  casts." — Charles  Zibeon 
Southard,  Trout  Fly-Fishing  in  America, 

This  has  not  been  my  experience  with  fontinalis 
in  the  streams  and  ponds  of  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  and 
the  mountain  brooks  of  Pennsylvania,  where  many  of 
my  trout  took  the  fly  almost  before  it  touched  the 
water.  I  have  seen  trout  catch  large  live  flies  in  the 
air  a  few  inches  over  the  surface.  I  think  large  trout 
in  clear,  still  ponds  easily  see  the  cast  fly  before  it 


78  TKe  Determined  Angler 

alights.  The  trout  in  rapid  streams  may  not  be  so 
alert,  but  I  have  certainly  caught  many  a  specimen  on 
the  fly  the  instant  the  lure  touched  the  water. 

Mr.  William  M.  Carey,  who  is  responsible  for  the 
frontispiece  in  this  volume,  is  positive  trout  often 
jump  out  of  the  water  in  taking  the  fly.  I,  too,  have 
seen  trout  do  so.  It  is  not  a  regular  practice  of  the 
species,  but  I  easily  recall  many  instances  of  the  trout 
leaping  clear  of  the  surface  and  taking  the  fly  in  the 
descent.  Trout  of  all  sizes  will  often  strike  both  living 
and  artiflcial  flies  with  their  tails,  this  either  in  play 
or  to  disable  the  insect.  A  writer  in  Forest  and  Stream 
(January  9,  1901)  says:  ''In  fishing  a  trout  stream 
in  northern  Michigan  I  was  using  a  cast  of  a  Par- 
machenee  belle  and  a  brown  hackle.  I  was  wading 
downstream,  and  I  came  to  a  place  where  a  tree  had 
fallen  into  the  stream,  and  after  several  casts  I  noticed 
some  small  trout  following  my  flies.  I  cast  again,  and 
while  my  flies  were  five  or  six  inches  from  the  water  a 
trout  four  or  five  inches  long  jumped  clear  out  of  the 
water,  grabbed  my  Parmachenee  belle  and  imme- 
diately dove  with  it  in  its  mouth.  I  believe  the  same 
trout  did  the  same  thing  several  times  while  I  was 
fishing  there.'  These  were  brook  trout  and  they  were 
not  jumping  except  when  they  jumped  at  my  flies." 

The  foregoing  comments  were  submitted  to  Mr. 
Southard,  and  he  writes  me: 

**  What  you  say  about  catching  trout  in  Long  Island 
waters  and  the  mountain  brooks  of  Pennsylvania  is 
entirely  true.  During  the  early  spring  season  I  have 
caught,  at  times,  many  small  trout  on  such  waters  in 
precisely  the  same  way,  and  in  addition  there  have 
been  days  on  many  different  waters  where  occasionally 
during  the  whole  of  the  open  season  I  have  caught 


Trout  Flies,    Artificial  and  Natural  79 

trout  when  they  rose  the  moment  the  fly  alighted 
upon  the  water.  These  experiences  of  ours  alone, 
however,  do  not  establish  as  a  fact  nor  as  a  general 
proposition  that  trout  rise  to  a  fly  more  often  when  it 
first  alights  upon  the  water  than  after  the  fly  has  been 
fished  or  played  by  the  Angler;  nor  that  my  statement 
as  a  general  proposition  is  not  a  correct  one. 

**The  statement  was  perhaps  poorly  worded  and 
thus  misleading,  and  I  should  have  said  that  on  an 
average  trout  do  not  rise  to  a  fly  once  in  thirty  casts 
when  it  first  alights  upon  the  water.  My  opinion  was 
based,  first,  upon  trout  fly-fishing  on  all  kinds  of  fish- 
able  waters  wherever  found;  second,  upon  all  sizes  of 
trout  from  the  minimum  of  six  inches  to  the  maximum 
of  thirty  inches  whether  or  not  they  were  indigenous 
or  planted  fish;  third,  upon  my  own  experience  of  over 
twenty-five  years  as  well  as  the  opinion  of  many 
Anglers  and  guides  with  an  experience  covering  a 
longer  period  than  my  own;  fourth,  upon  my  knowl- 
edge of  the  habits  and  habitats  of  trout  under  the  many 
varying  conditions  which  govern  their  lives  and  actions. 

''Unfortunately  most  Anglers  have  given  almost  no 
thought  to  studying  and  analyzing  'the  art  of  fly- 
fishing' to  the  end  that  they  may  become  better  and 
more  successful  fishermen  and  thus  enjoy  to  a  greater 
extent  the  pleasures  of  the  clean,  dignified,  and  de- 
lightful sport  of  angling.  It  is  not  surprising  then  that 
an  Angler  upon  first  thought,  even  an  experienced 
one,  might  think  that  trout  rise  to  flies  when  they  first 
alight  upon  the  water  more  often  than  once  in  thirty 
casts  because  he  remembers  only  the  rises  and  his 
successes,  but  pays  very  little  attention  to  the  lack  of 
either.  How  many  Anglers  know  approximately 
the  number  of  casts  they  make  in  an  hour?     How 


8o  THe  Determined  Angler 

many  know  the  number  of  rises  they  have  and  when? 
How  many  know  the  number  of  trout  that  rise  and 
strike  and  are  hooked  and  landed?  The  answer  is 
'Few  indeed*;  and  those  who  hazard  a  guess  are 
usually  far  from  the  facts. 

*'The  average  fly-fishing  Angler  casts  his  fly  or 
flies,  on  most  waters,  from  five  to  seven  times  a  minute 
and  the  less  experienced  Angler  from  seven  to  ten 
times.  With  the  more  experienced  Angler  this  means 
that  he  casts  from  300  to  420  times  in  an  hour  and  in 
five  hours  from  1500  to  2100  times.  Let  us  take  the 
lesser  number  as  a  basis  of  reasoning;  in  one  hour,  if 
once  in  thirty  casts  a  trout  rose,  struck,  and  was 
hooked  when  the  fly  first  alighted  upon  the  water, 
the  Angler's  creel  would  be  richer  by  ten  fish  and  in 
five  hours  by  fifty  fish.  Then  to  this  number  should 
be  added  the  trout  that  rise,  strike,  and  are  hooked 
after  the  fly  has  alighted  upon  the  water  and  has  been 
fished  or  played  by  the  Angler.  Would  it  not  be  a  fair 
proposition  to  say  that  at  least  as  many  trout  would 
be  caught  under  the  latter  circumstances  as  the 
former?  To  my  mind  it  would.  The  Angler  then 
would  have  creeled  one  hundred  fish  in  five  hours. 
As  some  trout,  even  with  the  most  expert  of  Anglers, 
are  bound  to  be  lost  let  us  be  liberal  and  place  the 
loss  at  fifty  per  cent.,  thus  making  the  Angler's  net 
catch  fifty  instead  of  one  hundred  fish.  Think  this 
over  and  think  over  what  your  experience  has  been, 
day  after  day  and  season  after  season,  and  ask  your- 
self if  a  catch  of  this  size  is  not  very  unusual  on  the 
best  of  trout  fishing  waters.  So  far  as  my  own  ex- 
perience goes  it  certainly  is  most  unusual,  and  I  fish 
on  many  fine  waters  each  year  and  for  at  least  one 
hundred  days. 


Trout  Flies,    A.rtificial  and  Natural  8i 

"There  are  some  places,  especially  in  the  State  of 
Maine,  and  notably  *  The  .  Meadow  Grounds '  of 
*The  Seven  Ponds,'  Franklin  County,  where  at 
times  large  numbers  of  small  trout,  running  from  five 
to  seven  or  eight  inches,  can  be  caught  in  a  fishing  day 
of  five  hours  and  I  have  known  of  Anglers  catching, 
though  not  killing,  from  three  hundred  to  seven  hund- 
red trout  and  most  of  them  rose  to  the  flies  when  they 
first  alighted  upon  the  water.  At  ' Tim  Pond,'  Maine, 
the  only  place  I  know  where  more  trout  can  be 
caught  on  the  fly  than  by  bait,  one  hundred  to 
two  hundred  trout  have  been  caught  in  one  day 
on  the  fly,  but  in  most  instances  these  trout  take  the 
fly  not  when  it  alights  upon  the  water  but  after  it  has 
been  played.  Such  occurrences  as  these,  however, 
take  place  where  countless  numbers  of  small  trout 
are  found  in  the  shallow  waters  of  remarkable  and 
wonderful  natural  breeding  and  propagating  sections. 
Instances  of  this  kind  prove  nothing  because  they  are 
the  great  exception  and  the  art  of  fly-fishing  is  not 
brought  into  play,  for  one  fly  is  as  good  as  another  and 
the  small  boy  with  his  flfty-cent  pole  can  catch  just 
as  many  trout  as  the  man  of  experience  with  his 
thirty-dollar  rod  of  split  bamboo.  Yet  in  expressing 
my  opinion  about  trout  rising  to  a  fly  when  it  first 
alights  upon  the  water  I  took  into  consideration  just 
such  instances  as  I  have  cited. 

***For  your  own  satisfaction  and  education,'  to 
quote  from  my  book,  'when  the  opportunity  offers, 
keep  an  account  of  the  number  of  rises  you  get  when 
your  fly  first  strikes  the  water  and  the  number  you 
get  after  you  have  begun  to  fish  the  fly,  and  so  prove 
for  yourself  what  the  real  facts  are  on  this  subject.' 

**It  is  unquestionably  true  that  all  trout  both  large 


82  THe  Determined  Angler 

and  small,  when  in  clear,  still  water  that  is  shallow, 
easily  see  a  cast  fly  before  it  alights  upon  the  surface. 

*' At  times,  under  certain  conditions  both  on  streams 
and  lakes,  trout  will  leap  into  the  air  and  take  small 
as  well  as  large  flies  in  the  air.  But  seldom  will  large 
or  very  large  trout  rise  above  the  surface  for  any  kind 
of  fly  either  real  or  artificial. 

*' In  order  that  there  may  be  no  misunderstanding  I 
would  say  that  I  classify  the  size  of  trout  as  follows: 

'*  Small  trout,  8  inches  and  under. 

**  Medium  sized  trout,  9  to  13  inches. 

*' Large  trout,  14  to  18  inches. 

"Very  large  trout,  19  inches  and  over. 

*' Trout  found  in  rapid  streams  are  more  alert  than 
trout  found  elsewhere;  they  in  most  cases  represent 
the  perfection  of  trout  life  in  all  its  different  phases. 
Trout  in  rapid  streams  are  snappy  risers  to  both  the 
real  and  artificial  fly  but  owing  to  the  current  they 
frequently  'fall  short'  and  fail  to  strike  and  take  the 
fly.  Such  trout  when  they  do  take  the  fly  are  the 
easiest  to  hook  because  they  often  hook  or  help  to 
hook  themselves  owing  to  the  current. 

*' Your  experience  can  hardly  be  said  to  differ  mate- 
rially from  my  own  in  the  instances  you  mention,  but  I 
cannot  help  thinking  that  you  have  failed  to  take  into 
account  the  many  times  when  you  have  returned  with 
an  empty  or  very  nearly  empty  creel  or  to  consider 
the  number  of  times  you  have  actually  cast  your  fly 
on  the  days  when  the  creel  was  full  to  overflowing. 

*'If  you  have  cited  your  usual  experience  then  I 
heartily  congratulate  you  upon  your  skill  and  upon 
your  good  fortune  in  knowing  such  remarkable  fishing 
waters  wherein  there  dwells  'the  most  beautiful  fish 
that  swims.' '* 


Troxit  Flies,    Artificial  and  Natural  83 

I  fully  agree  with  Mr.  Southard,  and  I,  too,  should 
have  worded  my  comment  differently,  though  I 
didn't  declare,  fortunately,  that  most  of  my  trout 
were  taken  the  instant  the  fly  touched  the  water. 
I  used  the  word  **many*'  in  both  instances  where  I 
spoke  of  the  trout  taking  the  fly.  I  think  I  should 
have  considered  more  deeply  Mr.  Southard's  line 
*'once  in  thirty  casts";  then  we'd  have  understood 
each  other.  However,  no  crime  has  been  committed; 
far  from  it,  for  look  you,  reader,  what  you  have 
gained — all  this  delightful  extra  practical  reading ;  and 
remember  ye,  **one  of  the  charms  of  angling, "  as  Pritt 
says,  **is  that  it  presents  an  endless  field  for  argu- 
ment, speculation,  and  experiment." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   BROOK   TROUT*S    RIVAL 

When  the  German  brown  trout  was  introduced  in 
the  brook  trout  streams  of  Pennsylvania  some  years 
ago  fly-fishermen  condemned  the  act  because  they 
believed  the  brook  trout  (S.  fontinalis)  was  superior  to 
the  brown  trout  as  a  game  fish.  Deforestation,  render- 
ing the  streams  too  warm  for  the  brook  trout,  has 
changed  the  fly-fisherman's  feeling  in  the  matter. 
The  brown  trout  can  thrive  in  warm  water,  and  with 
the  brook  trout's  gradual  extermination  the  brown 
trout  is  being  welcomed  as  the  next  best  thing.  A 
correspondent  at  Reading,  Pa.,  signing  himself 
**  Mourner" — he  mourns  the  passing  of  the  true  brook 
trout — declares  the  brown  trout  strikes  harder  than 
the  brook  trout  and  after  being  hooked,  unlike  the 
brook  trout,  makes  two  or  three  leaps  out  of  the  water, 
but  is  not  so  gamey  and  cunning  as  the  brook  trout 
and  tires  out  much  quicker.  The  German  species  has 
been  popular  because  it  attains  a  larger  size  quickly 
and  destroys  almost  every  fish  in  the  streams,  includ- 
ing the  brook  trout.  "The  fly-fishermen  who  for 
years  have  matched  their  skill,  cunning,  artifice,  and 
prowess  against  the  genuine  brook  trout  that  since 
creation  dawned  have  inhabited  the  mountain  brooks 
that  flow  down  every  ravine,"  says  Mourner,  **have 
had  forced  on  them,  as  never  before,  the  sad  truth 

84 


The  BrooK  Trouif  s  Rival  85 

that,  like  the  deer,  bear,  quail,  woodcock,  and  grouse, 
brook  trout  are  slowly  but  surely  passing.  There 
never  was  a  fish  so  gamy,  elusive,  and  eccentric,  so 
beautiful  and  so  hard  to  deceive  and  capture  by 
scientific  methods  as  the  native  brook  trout.  No 
orator  has  yet  risen  to  fully  sound  its  praises ;  no  poet  to 
sing  its  merits  as  they  deserve ;  no  painter  to  produce 
its  varied  hues.  The  brook  trout  was  planted  in  the 
crystal  waters  by  the  Creator  Vhen  the  morning 
stars  sang  together'  Sind  fontinalis  was  undisturbed, 
save  as  some  elk,  deer,  bear,  panther,  or  wildcat 
forded  the  shallows  of  his  abode,  or  some  Indian  or 
mink  needed  him  for  food.  In  this  environment  the 
brook  trout  grew  and  thrived.  Much  warfare  made 
him  shy  and  suspicious  until  he  became  crafty  to 
a  degree.  The  brook  trout  successfully  combated 
man's  inventive  genius  in  the  shape  of  agile  rods, 
artificial  flies  and  other  bait  calculated  to  fool  the 
most  wary,  and  automatic  reels,  landing  nets,  and 
other  paraphernalia  designed  to  rob  a  game  fish  of  '  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.'  But  it  was  not 
until  the  tanner  and  acid  factory  despoiler  turned 
poisoned  refuse  into  the  streams  and  the  dynamiter 
came  upon  the  scene  and  the  sheltering  trees  were  cut 
away  by  the  lumberman,  letting  in  the  sun  and  warm- 
ing the  water  to  a  nauseous  tepidity,  that  the  brave 
trout  faltered,  hesitated,  and  then  quit  the  uneven 
conquest.  Carp  and  bass  were  planted  in  the  streams 
to  further  endanger  the  brook  trout's  existence.  Next 
the  California  trout  and  the  German  brown  trout,  who 
prey  upon  the  true  brook  trout's  progeny,  followed, 
till  finally,  beaten,  baffled,  dismayed,  poisoned, 
routed,  and  overwhelmed  by  the  superior  numbers  and 
size  of  a  cannibalistic  race,  he  gradually  began  his 


86  TKe  Determined  Angler 

retreat.  It  is  good-bye  to  the  brook  trout  now.  With 
him  it  was  either  cool  pools,  solitude,  and  freedom,  or 
extermination.  The  waters  that  pour  down  into  larger 
streams  are  sad  memories  now  of  his  school  play- 
grounds. No  more  will  the  sportsman's  honest  hunger 
be  appeased  by  the  brook  trout's  fine-grained  flesh 
from  hardening  waters  of  nearby  mountain  brooks. 
But  memory  of  the  brook  trout  cannot  be  wrested 
from  those  who  knew  him  at  his  best,  and  braved 
personal  danger  from  rattler,  bear,  and  wildcat  to  win 
him  from  the  crystal  waters.  The  brook  trout  has 
been  butchered  to  make  a  carp's  holiday.  Gone  he 
may  be  now,  but  he  will  live  forever  in  the  dreams  of 
all  true  fishermen  as  the  real  aristocrat  of  the  mountain 
streams.  The  like  of  him  will  not  soon  be  seen  again." 
The  Fish  Commission  has  mastered  the  science  of  the 
artificial  propagation  of  the  brook  trout — millions  are 
now  produced  with  little  trouble  and  expense — and 
the  stocking  of  waters  is  a  common  practice,  but  the 
Fish  Commission  can't  propagate  forests  and  wood- 
land streams.  Mourner  must  know  that  the  brook 
trout  itself  is  not  hard  to  save ;  it  is  the  preservation  of 
its  wild  habitat  that  is  the  great  puzzle.  If  the  United 
States  Forestry  Department  will  protect  the  trout 
streams  from  the  greedy  lumberman,  the  factoryman, 
and  acid  maker,  the  Fish  Commission  will  have  no 
trouble  in  saving  the  brook  trout. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

TROUT  ON  BARBLESS  HOOKS  _ 

Most  women  who  indulge  in  fishing  are,  like  chil- 
dren, mere  fish  takers,  not  Anglers,  but  the  craft  is 
honored  by  the  association  of  many  fine  female  de- 
votees who  study  and  practice  the  gentle  art  in  its 
fullest  meaning — a  devotion  to  the  poetic,  artistic, 
healthful,  and  humane  elements  in  piscatorial  pursuits. 
Dame  Juliana  Berners,  who  wrote  the  earliest  volume 
on  gentle  fishing  (1500),  was  the  first  celebrated  exam- 
ple of  the  artful  and  merciful  woman  fisher,  and  Cleo- 
patra the  first  female  to  make  notorious  the  coarse 
and  ungodly  method  in  fishing  for  pastime.  Sweet 
Dame  Berners  believed  in  angling — the  desire  of  fair 
treatment  to  the  quarry,  correct  tackle,  a  love  of  the 
pursuit  superior  to  greed  for  number  in  the  catch,  and 
a  heavenly  admiration  of  the  general  beauties  of  nature 
in  the  day  as  well  as  in  the  play;  and  brutal  Cleopatra 
believed  in  mere  fishing,  the  killing  of  the  greatest 
number,  regardless  of  means,  mercy,  or  method. 

Our  modern  Dame  Bernerses  and  Cleopatras  in  the 
fishing  fold  are  many.  The  wife  who  aids  the  net 
fisherman — the  marine  farmer  whose  calling  emulates 
the  professional  duties  of  Jesus*  disciples,  Peter, 
Andrew,  James,  and  John — does  not  count.  Her  part 
in  fishing,  while  by  no  means  angling,  is  as  honest  as 
the  work  of  the  upland  farmer's  helpmate,  and  God 

87 


88  THe  Determined  Angler 

Himself  will  not  condemn  little  children,  male  or 
female,  who  fish  indiscriminately,  "because  they  do 
not  know. "  Fishing  for  the  modern  market  is  just  as 
honorable  as  market  fishing  was  in  the  ancient  days 
when  Jesus  praised  the  net  fishermen  and  made  them 
His  nearest  and  dearest  friends,  and  angling — ^merciful 
ungreedy  fishing  with  humane  tackle  and  a  clear 
conscience — is  even  more  righteous  than  net  fishing, 
because,  while  the  main  result  of  the  Angler's  pursuit 
is  the  same  as  the  marketman's — fish  taking — the 
Angler's  method  of  capture  is  far  less  cruel,  and  his 
creel  of  fish  is  far  less  in  number  than  the  boatful  of 
the  marketman. 

The  distinction  in  angling  and  fishing  is  made  by 
the  modes  employed  in  the  taking,  the  killing,  and  the 
disposing  of  the  fishes.  Any  fisherman  who  uses  tackle 
appropriate  to  the  various  species,  who  is  not  greedy 
in  his  catch,  who  plays  his  game  with  mercy,  who  dis- 
patches it  with  the  least  suffering,  who  disposes  of  it 
without  wanton  waste,  and  who  is  thankful  to  the 
Maker  for  the  ways  and'means  for  all  these  conditions, 
is  an  Angler.  And  cannot  woman  be  as  artful  and 
gentle  in  pursuits  and  as  appreciative  in  feeling  as  man? 
Surely.  England  and  Scotland  and  Ireland  are 
famous  for  their  women  Anglers,  and  Maine,  the 
Adirondacks,  California,  and  Canada  boast  of  the 
finest  female  fly-casters  in  the  world.  There  are  more 
women  Anglers  in  these  last-named  territories  than 
there  are  men  Anglers  in  all  other  parts  of  the  United 
States.  A  woman,  Mary  Orris  Marbury,  wrote  the 
best  volume  scientifically  descriptive  of  trout,  bass, 
and  salmon  flies  of  modern  times,  and  Cornelia  Crosby, 
a  daughter  of  the  Maine  wilderness,  is  the  fly-fishing 
enthusiast  of  America. 


Trout  on  Barbless  HooKs  89 

Great  minds,  male  and  female,  have  gentle  hearts. 
Izaak  Walton  handled  a  frog  as  if  he  loved  him. 
Cowper  would  not  unnecessarily  hurt  a  worm.  Lin- 
coln upset  his  White  House  Cabinet  to  rescue  a  mother 
pig  from  a  mire.  Webster  neglected  the  Supreme 
Court  to  replace  a  baby  robin  that  had  fallen  from  its 
nest.  Moses,  John  the  Divine,  Washington,  Thoreau, 
Audubon,  Wilson,  and  even  Napoleon  and  Caesar  the 
mighty  mankillers  were  all  of  tender  hearts,  and  all 
of  these  were — Anglers.  Christ  was  only  a  fisher  of 
men,  but  He  loved  and  associated  with  the  fishers  of 
fishes.  Walton,  the  father  of  fishers  and  fishing, 
angled  for  the  habits  of  fishes  more  than  for  their 
hides.  The  capture  of  a  fish  was  insignificantly  inci- 
dental to  the  main  notion  of  his  hours  abroad — his 
divine  love  of  the  waters,  the  fields,  the  meadows,  the 
skies,  the  trees,  and  God*s  beautiful  things  that  inhabit 
these.  *Tis  the  soul  we  seek  to  replenish,  not  the  creel. 
So  a  Long  Island  dairyman's  daughter  views  the 
theme,  and  she  handles  the  mother  and  baby  trout  as 
if  she  loved  them.  Salvelinus  fontinalis,  little  salmon 
of  the  streams,  the  Angler's  dearly  beloved  brook 
trout — this  is  the  dairymaid's  special  delight.  She 
breeds  these  rainbow-hued  beauties  and  broods  over 
them,  she  feeds  and  fondles  them,  and  they  are  to 
her  what  David's  holy,  fleecy  flock  were  to  him — his 
blessed  charge  by  heavenly  day  and  cardinal  care  at 
night.  They  feed  from  her  hand,  and  play  like 
kittens  with  her  fingers.  Cleopatra  cleaved  her  fishes 
with  a  murderous  hand  and  hook.  Audrey  cuddles 
her  trout  with  a  magnanimous  mind  and  heart. 

The  trout,  with  all  its  famous  beauty  of  color,  grace, 
and  outline,  all  its  army  of  admirers,  all  the  glory  of  its 
aqua-fairyland  habitat,  all  its  seeming  gentility  of 


90  TKe  Determined  Angler 

breeding  and  character,  is  none  the  less  a  little  villain 
at  the  killing  game,  like  the  less  admired  feline  and 
canine  and  serpentine  species,  for  he  will  devour  the 
daintiest  and  gaudiest  butterfly  that  ever  poet  sang  of. 
Fledgling  robins  and  bluebirds,  orioles  and  wrens  are 
meat  and  drink  to  him.  Young  chipmunks  and 
squirrels  that  lose  their  balance  in  the  storm  fall  into 
his  ready  maw.  The  bat,  the  bee,  the  beetle  and  lady- 
bug  are  rich  morsels  to  his  gastric  eye,  and  the  golden 
lizard,  the  umber  ant,  the  silvery  eel,  the  crawling 
angleworm,  the  chirping  cricket,  creeping  spider,  the 
grasshopper,  the  hopping  frog,  and  e'en  the  heavenly 
hummingbird  are  but  mealtime  mites  to  him.  Per- 
haps the  knowledge  of  this  life-destroying  trait  in  all 
the  fishes  made  Cleopatra  indifferent  to  the  gentler 
mode  of  fishing,  just  as  it  had  a  softer  influence  over 
Audrey,  for  she,  though  loving  both  the  fishes  and  their 
victims,  was  induced  to  angle  and  thus  punish,  but 
never  kill,  her  finny  favorites.  She  had  heard  of  the 
artificial  dry  fly  Anglers  of  Europe  using  the  barbless 
hook  that  held  the  trout  without  pain  or  injury,  and 
this  she  made  herself,  tying  up  dozens  of  somber- 
hued  and  lustrous  patterns  on  the  bent  bit  of  bronze 
that  formed  the  snare.  The  ruly  trout  who  gently 
waver  in  the  deep  pool,  satisfied  with  the  food  supplied 
by  their  fair  mistress,  and  who  behave  themselves 
when  they  swim  abroad  in  the  general  ponds  and 
streams,  are  not  molested,  but  the  rebellious  urchins 
who,  disdaining  the  bits  of  liver  and  worm  fed  to 
them  in  plenty,  go  forth  to  slay  the  happy  ladybug 
and  butterfly,  are  made  the  game  of  the  barbless  hook. 
Audrey  has  five  or  six  thousand  trout  in  the  pond 
and  the  stream  flowing  into  it.  The  surrounding 
country  is  wildly  beautiful,  the  water  being  surrounded 


Trout  on  Barbless  HooKs  91 

by  great  trees  of  elm,  hickory,  maple,  beech,  chestnut, 
walnut,  and  dogwood,  under  which  is  spread  a  rich 
green  lawn,  with  here  and  there  patches  of  wild  shrubs, 
vines,  and  ground  flowers.  Rustic  benches  circle  the 
water-edge  oaks,  and  sleek  deer,  as  tame  as  Belgian 
hares,  browse  on  the  rich  grass  and  eat  dainty  morsels 
from  the  palms  of  their  human  friends.  Cleopatra's 
marble  perch  basin  was  cold  and  deadly  in  its  artificial 
atmosphere.  Audrey's  woodland  trout  preserve  is 
warm  and  lifelike  in  its  natural  loveliness. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  BROOK  TROUT  INCOGNITO 

{The '' Sea  Trout'') 

"I  am  the  wiser  in  respect  to  all  knowledge  and  the  better 
qualified  for  all  fortunes  for  knowing  that  there  is  a  minnow  in 
that  brook." — Thoreau. 

There  is  still  considerable  argument  about  the 
identification  and  classification  of  the  sea  trout. 
Some  authorities  still  claim  the  sea  trout  is  a  distinct 
species;  others  declare  it  to  be  the  brook  trout,  Salve- 
linus  fontinalisj  that  goes  to  sea  from  the  fresh  water 
ponds  and  streams. 

The  squeteague  {vulgo  weakfish,  wheatfish,  sea 
bass,  white  sea  bass,  carvina,  checutts,  shecutts, 
yellowfin,  drummer,  bluefish,  squit,  suckermang, 
succoteague,  squitee,  chickwit,  gray  trout,  sun  trout, 
salmon,  salmon  trout,  shad  trout,  sea  trout,  salt- 
water trout,  spotted  trout,  etc.)  is  not  a  trout  of 
any  sort;  so  this  species  need  not  be  considered  in  this 
sea  trout  discussion. 

My  personal  theory  concerning  the  sea  trout  is  that 
any  trout  that  goes  to  sea  is  a  sea  trout,  and  that  more 
than  one  species  of  trout  go  to  sea — whenever  they 
have  the  opportunity. 

The  small-stream  trout  that  visit  the  ocean  do  so 
92 


THe  BrooK  Tro\jt  Incognito  93 

mainly  in  search  of  a  change  in  food;  the  sea-going 
trout  of  large  rivers  are  impelled  to  leave  their  fresh 
water  retreats  for  the  ocean  waters  also  to  satisfy  a 
desire  for  new  varieties  of  food,  but  more  so  because 
of  an  instinct  that  warns  them  of  the  danger  of  re- 
maining in  the  fresh- water  rivers  during  certain  periods 
of  the  year — the  coldest  seasons  when  the  waters 
freeze  to  the  river  bottom,  and  in  the  melting  time, 
when  the  ice  thaws  into  huge  sharp-edge  chunks,  and 
the  mass  of  ice,  swift-running  water,  and  rocks  turn  the 
rivers  into  raging,  roaring  floods  that  would  cut  and 
bruise  the  trout  unmercifully. 

Nature  makes  these  large-river  brook  trout  in  the 
calm  periods  of  spring,  summer,  and  autumn,  and  sea 
trout  in  severe  winter  weather  and  during  dangerous 
flood  time. 

The  broad  streams  of  the  west  coast  of  Newfound- 
land— Fishels  River,  Crabs  River,  Big  and  Little 
Codroy  Rivers,  Big  and  Little  Barachois  Rivers,  and 
Robinson's  River — afford  the  best  evidence  of  trout 
migrating  to  the  sea  to  escape  the  fury  of  the  flood,  and 
any  of  the  little  trout  streams  in  any  part  of  the  world 
where  the  streams  flow  into  salt  water  will  afford  the 
student  means  of  observing  the  trout's  fondness  for 
marine  excursions  in  search  of  a  change  of  diet. 

Just  as  the  different  species  of  trout  are  widely 
contrasting  in  colors,  shapes,  sizes,  traits,  etc.,  while 
in  their  natural  habitat — fresh  water — so  are  they 
confoundingly  different  in  these  matters  while  so- 
journing in  salt  water. 

The  true  brook  trout  {Salvelinus  fontinalis)  is  of 
various  shades,  shapes  and  sizes,  these  depending 
upon  the  character  of  the  water  he  inhabits.  In 
shallow,  swift  streams  of  a  light  color  pebble  bottom 


94  TKe  Determined  Angler 

the  specimens  in  general  are  likely  to  be  thin,  narrow, 
and  of  a  bright  gray  hue,  though,  of  course,  there  are 
individual  specimens  in  this  condition  of  water  that 
are  exceptions  to  the  rule — a  few  old  specimens  who 
have  sheltered  themselves  for  years  in  dark,  deep, 
steady  spots  under  the  protruding  bank  of  the  stream, 
or  along  the  side  of  a  sunken  tree  stump,  etc.  This 
autocrat  of  the  eddy  is  fat,  stocky,  and  dark  in  color, 
just  the  opposite  of  his  younger  relatives  of  the  swift- 
running  part  of  the  stream. 

The  brook  trout  of  deep,  still  dark-bottom  ponds  are 
fatter,  darker,  broader,  of  duller  color  and  of  slower 
motion  than  their  brothers  of  the  rapid  waters.  The 
trout's  shape,  weight,  size,  and  color  are  influenced  by 
its  food,  its  age,  its  activity,  its  habitat,  and  its  habits. 
Its  color  corresponds  to  the  color  of  the  water  bottom, 
and  will  change  as  the  water  bottom  changes.  If  re- 
moved to  a  new  water,  where  the  bottom  color  is 
different  from  the  bottom  color  of  its  first  abode — 
lighter  or  darker,  as  the  case  may  be — it  will  gradually 
grow  to  a  corresponding  shade,  blending  with  its  new 
habitat  just  as  its  colors  suited  the  stones  and  grasses 
and  earthy  materials  of  its  native  domain. 

The  landlocked  trout,  if  imprisoned  in  a  deep,  dark, 
muddy-bottom,  shaded  woodland  pool,  will  be  dull  in 
color,  stocky  in  shape,  and  of  sluggish  habits.  The 
trout  confined  to  a  bubbling  fountain  pool,  with  a 
bottom  of  golden  sand,  at  the  foot  of  a  waterfall,  in 
the  full  glare  of  the  sun,  will  be  of  albino  character. 

Perhaps  no  other  fish  offers  specimens  of  its  own 
kind  so  deeply  in  contrast  as  fontinalis.  This  is 
scientifically  and  interestingly  illustrated  in  many 
ways — color,  size,  shape,  form,  action,  environment, 
etc.    For  example,  consider  the  big,  fat,  long,  strong, 


THe  BrooK  Trovit  Incognito  95 

copper-color  brook  trout  that,  having  access  to  salt 
water,  gormandizes  upon  the  multitudinous  food  of  the 
sea — shrimp,  killifish,  spearing,  spawn,  crab,  etc. — 
and  the  tiny,  active,  silvery  albinolike  brook  trout 
that  is  locked  in  a  small  foamy  basin  under  a  dashing 
waterfall,  feeding  only  upon  minute  Crustacea  and  the 
insect  life  that  is  carried  to  its  watery  prison.  These 
two  specimens  are  not  freakish  individuals  of  their 
species — like  the  blunt-nose  specimen  and  the  various 
other  deformities — but  are  quite  common  contrasting 
representatives  of  their  tribe. 

If  we  were  to  display  in  a  group  side  by  side  one  of 
each  of  the  shape-and-color-differing  specimens — one 
large  copper-shade,  sea-going  brook  trout,  one  tiny 
silvery,  fountain-locked  brook  trout,  one  ordinary- 
environed  brook  trout,  one  blunt-nose  brook  trout, 
etc. — the  fact  of  their  being  of  an  identical  species 
would  be  correctly  appreciated  by  the  scientific  man 
only. 

I  am  not  resorting  to  poetic  license  or  theorizing 
or  delving  into  ancient  precedents  to  carry  my  point 
of  natural  history,  for  I  once  captured  one  of  the  big, 
sea-going  specimens,  and  my  friend,  James  Cornell, 
angling  in  an  adjacent  stream  the  same  day,  brought 
to  creel  a  little  silvery  beauty  of  the  foamy  waterfall. 
Shape,  form,  tint,  weight — every  mood  and  trait — 
were  of  astounding  contrast  in  these  two  specimens, 
yet  both  were  of  the  same  species,  the  true  brook 
trout ;  my  dark,  strenuous  three-pounder  taken  in  the 
open,  brackish  creek  as  I  cast  from  the  salt  meadow- 
land  sod  banks,  and  Corneirs  albinolike  gamester  suc- 
cumbing to  the  fly  in  the  foamy  fountain  of  a  deep 
woodland  brook;  both  specimens  widely  separated  in 
appearance,  habits,  and  habitat,  but  still  both  legiti- 


9^  TKe  Determined  Angler 

mate  brothers  of  the  family  fontinalis — little  salmon 
of  the  streams. 

Trout  in  the  sea  feed  on  shrimp,  the  spawn  of  herring, 
and  on  the  entrails  of  cod  and  other  species  of  fishes 
thrown  away  by  market  fishermen. 

If  the  sea-going  trout  did  not  eat  the  spawn  of  the 
herring,  herring  would  be  too, plentiful  for  Nature's 
even-distribution  arrangement.  The  sea  trout  is 
gorged  with  herring  spawn,  which  lies  in  heaps  like 
so  much  sawdust  on  the  shores  and  shallow  places  of 
the  ocean.  Cod  spawn  and  milt  float  on  the  water's 
surface;  the  spawn  of  the  herring  sinks. 

The  sea  trout  fresh  from  the  streams  is  plump,  has 
bright  red  spots,  and  is  in  ordinary  color  when  it  goes 
to  sea;  when  it  returns  to  the  streams,  though  bigger 
(longer)  and  stronger,  it  is  comparatively  thin,  and  is 
of  white  or  silver- sheened  shade. 

Prof.  George  Brown  Goode  {American  Fishes): 
'  *  The  identity  of  the  Canadian  sea  trout  and  the  brook 
trout  is  still  denied  by  many,  though  the  decision  of 
competent  authorities  has  settled  the  question  beyond 
doubt." 

Eugene  McCarthy  {Familiar  Fish) :  **Many  Anglers 
are  now  turning  their  attention  to  catching  sea  trout, 
either  on  account  of  the  novelty  of  the  sport  or  because 
they  believe  that  they  are  taking  a  new  variety  of  fish. 
That  there  is  novelty  in  such  fishing  cannot  be  denied, 
but  that  the  fish  is  new  in  any  way  certainly  can  be. 
.  .  .  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  sea  trout  and  the  brook 
trout  are  one  and  the  same  fish.  It  is  broadly  claimed 
that  any  of  the  trout  can  live  as  well  in  salt  water  as 
they  can  in  fresh  water,  and  everything  seems  to  prove 
the  claim  to  be  correct.  All  trout  grow  to  a  larger 
size  in  salt  water  than  in  the  brooks  or  rivers,  and  they 


TKe  BrooK  Trcut  Incognito  97 

lose  their  spots  in  the  sea,  becoming  pale  and  silvery 
in  color.  Brook  trout  were  originally  found  at  a  dis- 
tance not  greater  than  three  hundred  miles  back 
from  the  ocean  in  waters  tributary  to  it.  Where 
conditions  of  temperature  were  favorable,  they  in- 
variably sought  salt  water.  When  transplanted  to,  or 
found  in,  inland  waters,  they  have  adapted  themselves 
to  fresh- water  conditions  afe  well.  All  members  of  the 
trout  family  require  cold  water  for  their  habitat, 
averaging  about  68  degrees  or  less.  Therefore,  they 
must  either  seek  the  cold  water  of  the  ocean,  or,  if 
barred  from  that  by  long  stretches  of  warm-river 
waters,  they  must  seek  the  cold,  small  tributaries 
high  up  in  the  hills.  While  trout  are  found  in  the  high- 
land streams  south  of  New  York  as  far  as  South 
Carolina,  they  are  not  able  to  seek  the  sea  on  account 
of  the  warm,  intervening  waters.  In  Long  Island 
(N.  Y.)  streams  all  trout  are  sea-going.  From  that 
point  along  the  coast  northward  sea  trout  are  rarely, 
if  ever,  found  until  the  northern  shores  of  Maine  and 
New  Brunswick  are  reached.  All  rivers  flowing  into 
the  St.  Lawrence  as  far  west  as  Quebec,  as  well  as 
those  entering  the  Saguenay  and  those  of  the  Labra- 
dor coast,  are  especially  noted  for  most  excellent  sea 
trout  fishing,  and  are  the  favorite  resorts  of  Anglers. 
...  In  all  ways  the  sea  trout  corresponds  with  the 
brook  trout  when  taken  in  fresh  water.  If  taken  in 
salt  water,  there  will  only  be  the  variation  of  coloring. 
.  .  .  ouananiche  .  .  .  and  sea  trout  .  .  .  with  the 
exception  of  salmon  .  .  .  afford  the  greatest  sport 
that  the  Angler  can  find.  .  .  .  Exactly  the  same 
tackle  is  used  (for  sea  trout)  as  for  ouananiche,  trout, 
or  bass,  and  the  same  flies,  both  in  kind  and  size.  .  .  . 
When  the  fish  begin  to  leave  the  sea  and  ascend  the 


98  THe  Determined  Angler 

rivers,  the  bright  colorings  not  only  return,  but 
actually  appear  to  be  more  beautiful  than  those  of  the 
trout  that  always  remain  in  fresh  water.  .  .  .  But 
little  attention,  comparatively  speaking,  has  been 
given  to  sea  trout,  principally  because  their  nature 
was  not  understood,  and,  in  fact,  but  little  has  been 
said  or  written  in  regard  to  them  to  arouse  interest. 
The  lessees  of  the  sea  trout  streams  on  Long  Island 
are  very  enthusiastic  over  the  fishing  they  secure,  as 
are  those  sportsmen  who  have  sought  it  in  Canada. 
The  Canadian  rivers  are  now  more  quickly  and  easily 
reached  than  formerly,  and  as  the  fish  are  rapidly 
acquiring  fame  they  are  bound  to  become  much 
sought  after  b}^  Anglers.  However,  sea  trout  fishing  is 
but  fishing  for  brook  trout  under  different  conditions, 
and  amid  varied  surroundings.  They  offer,  however, 
two  extra  inducements — they  are  more  plentiful  and 
usually  average  larger. " 

Charles  Hallock  {Sportsman's  Gazetteer)  refers  to  the 
common  theory  that  sea  trout  (Canada)  are  merely  a 
clan  or  detachment  of  the  brook  trout  which  have 
temporarily  left  their  fresh- water  haunts  for  the  sea; 
then  Mr.  Hallock  asks:  **But,  if  we  must  accept  this 
as  a  postulate,  we  must  be  permitted  to  ask  why  the 
same  peculiarities  do  not  attach  to  the  trout  of  Maine, 
Cape  Cod,  and  Long  Island?  Why  do  we  not  discover 
here  this  periodical  midsummer  advent  and  *  run '  of 
six  weeks*  duration;  and  why  are  only  isolated  in- 
dividuals taken  in  the  salt-water  pound  nets  and  fykes 
of  Long  Island,  etc.,  instead  of  thousands,  as  in 
Canada?  Moreover,  the  Canadian  sea  trout  are  never 
taken  in  the  small  streams,  but  only  in  rivers  of  consid- 
erable size,  and  the  same  trout  uniformly  return  to  the 
same  river,  just  as  salmon  do — at  least,  we  infer  so 


THe  BrooK  Tro-ut  Incognito  99 

from  the  fact  that  six-pounders  are  invariably  found 
in  the  Nouvelle,  and  varying  sizes  elsewhere.  Besides, 
we  must  be  able  to  answer  why  a  portion  only  of  the 
trout  in  a  given  stream  should  periodically  visit  the 
sea  at  a  specified  time,  while  an  equal  or  greater 
number  elect  to  remain  behind  in  fresh  water;  for  we 
may  suppose  that,  having  equal  opportunities,  all 
have  the  same  instincts  and  desires." 

But,  trout  of  different  localities  do  not  have  equal 
opportunities;  therefore,  they  have  not  the  same 
instincts  and  desires.  Local  conditions  of  Nature 
everywhere  guide  the  instincts  and  govern  the  desires 
of  every  living  thing.  So,  the  trout  of  Maine,  the 
trout  of  Cape  Cod,  the  trout  of  Long  Island — in- 
fluenced by  local  conditions — are  all  vastly  different  in 
opportunities,  instincts,  desires,  etc.  The  Eskimo 
biped,  the  African  biped — the  bipeds  of  all  countries — 
are  all  species  of  the  animal  man,  but  who  dare  suggest 
that  they  all  ha^e  equal  (similar)  opportunities  and 
the  same  instincts  and  desires? 

Even  individuals  of  the  trout  of  one  community 
are  profoundly  separated  in  character  from  their 
immediate  brothers  and  sisters.  Trout  vary  in  their 
tastes  and  antics  as  they  vary  in  color,  shape,  and  size. 
There  are  hundreds  of  natural  trout  flies  and  hundreds 
of  artificial  trout  flies,  imitations  of  the  living  insects, 
used  as  lures  in  fishing.  Why  so  many  patterns? 
Because  the  trout,  like  man,  is  in  love  with  a  variety  of 
foods  at  different  times,  and  both  man  and  trout 
change  in  their  tastes  by  the  month,  the  week,  the 
day,  the  hour,  and  the  minute. 

The  Angler  does  not  have  to  use  the  hundreds  of 
fly  patterns  at  one  fishing,  but  he  does  experiment 
with  a  variety  of  the  lures  to  find  the  particular  pat- 


100  TKe  Determined  Angler 

terns  the  fish  is  responsive  to  at  the  moment.  One  or 
two  patterns  would  suffice — if  the  Angler  could  select 
the  particular  species  the  trout  are  rising  to  without 
trying  all  the  patterns  until  he  discovers  the  killing 
patterns.  A  chef  might  please  his  master  with  one  or 
two  of  the  forty  courses  billed  if  he  knew  what  the 
man  wanted.  Sometimes  the  Angler  can  judge  the 
appropriate  fly  to  use  by  observing  Nature  in  seeing 
trout  rise  to  the  live  fly;  but  there  are  times  when 
trout  are  not  rising,  times  when  they  are  tired  of  the 
fly  upon  the  water,  and  times  when  the  real  fly  is  not 
on  the  wing. 

General  rules  are  of  no  service  without  a  deep 
regard  for  general  conditions,  local  and  otherwise. 
All  trout  must  not  be  judged  alike  even  if  they  be  of 
one  species  and  in  one  little  pool.  Individuals  of  man, 
though  of  one  race  and  in  one  district,  are  not  all  alike 
in  their  habits  any  more  than  they  are  in  their  shades, 
shapes,  and  sizes. 

The  conditions  of  the  large  rivers  of  Newfoundland 
are  different  from  the  conditions  of  the  small  streams 
of  Maine,  Long  Island,  and  Cape  Cod;  hence  the 
differing  desires  of  the  trout  in  these  differing  waters. 
There  is  no  similarity  in  the  quiet,  tiny  trout  brooks 
of  Long  Island  and  the  broad  torrential  rivers  of  New- 
foundland, and  it  is  only  natural  that  the  fishes  of 
these  deeply  contrasting  waters  should  be  widely 
separated  in  character — instinct,  desires,  color,  shape, 
size,  etc.  So  I  do  not  hesitate  to  express  a  belief 
that  the  sea  trout,  no  matter  where  we  find  it,  is  just 
our  own  fond  fontinalis  incognito. 

Between  Halifax  and  Sydney,  Nova  Scotia,  there 
are  many  wild  sea  trout  rivers  where  the  fish  have 
never  seen  a  human  being.    Angle  from  the  middle  of 


TKe  DrooK  Trout  Incognito        loi 

June  to  the  end  of  August.  In  June  large  sea  trout  are 
caught  in  salt  water  at  the  mouth  of  rivers  on  the 
artificial  fly  and  minnow  bait.  The  best  east  shore 
sea  trout  streams  are  St.  Mary's,  Muscadoboit, 
Tangier,  Cole  Harbor,  Petpeswick,  Quoddy,  Sheet 
Harbor,  Moser's  River,  Half-way  Brook,  Smith 
Brook,  Ecwon  Secum,  Isaac's  Harbor,  and  about 
Guysboro. 

Southwest  of  Halifax  great  sea  trout  fishing  may  be 
had  at  Ingram  River,  Nine  Mile  River,  Hubley's, 
Indian  River,  and  about  Liverpool,  Chester,  and  the 
salmon  country  about  Medway. 

In  New  Brunswick  beautiful  and  prolific  sea  trout 
waters  may  be  reached  from  the  towns  of  New  Castle 
(Miramichi  River  and  branches — May  and  June), 
Chatham  (Miramichi  River,  Tabusintac  River,  Barti- 
bog  River,  Eskeldoc  River),  Bathhurst  (Nipisguit 
River,  Tetagouche  River,  Caroquet  River,  Pock- 
mouche  River),  and  Campbellton,  in  the  Bale  de 
Chaleur  River,  Restigouche  River,  and  the  Casca- 
pedia,  Metapedia,  Upsalquitch,  Nouvelle,  Escuminac 
rivers. 

My  choice  of  sea  trout  flies  includes :  Brown  Hackle, 
Claret,  Cinamon,  Codun,  Jenny  Lind,  Parmachenee 
Belle,  Montreal,  Grouse,  Silver  Doctor.  Use  sober- 
hued  patterns  in  fresh  water;  bright  patterns  in  salt 
water.    Hooks:  Nos.  7  to  12. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

HOOKING  THE  TROUT 

*'GiVE  plenty  of  time  for  the  fish  to  swallow  the 
hook,"  says  0.  W.  Smith,  in  Outdoor  Life  (December, 
1 9 14),  addressing  the  croppie  (strawberry  bass) 
Angler. 

It  is  not  un-anglerlike  to  catch  any  fish  hooked 
beyond  the  lips?  Angling  has  its  gentle  qualities  as 
well  as  its  practical  ends.  It's  different  in  mere  fishing. 
I  don't  believe  any  Angler  would  purposely  hook  his 
game  otherwise  than  in  the  lip — a  nerveless  center 
where  there  is  no  pain — though  the  plain  fisherman 
may  resort  to  any  method  in  his  pursuit. 

I  remember  some  years  ago  when  two  fishermen 
caught  the  same  fish  (a  large  fluke),  one  hook  being 
in  the  fish's  mouth  and  the  other  hook  on  the  inside 
of  the  fish's  stomach,  it  was  decided  after  a  long  dis- 
cussion that  the  fish  really  belonged  to  the  man  whose 
hook  held  to  the  mouth;  the  swallowed  hook  was 
judged  as  illegitimate. 

Fishes  hooked  in  the  mouth  do  not  suffer  any  pain. 
I've  recaught  many  a  once-lost  specimen  with  my  snell 
in  its  lip;  these  in  both  fresh  water  and  salt  water. 
Incidents  of  this  character  furnish  one  of  the  many 
proofs  that  mouth-hooking  thefish  is  perfectly  humane. 
Two  friends  wittiessed  my  catch  (July  11,  191 5)  of  a 
Long  Island  two-and-one-quarter-pound  brook  trout 

102 


HooKin^  tHe  Troiat  103 

that  had  a  fly  and  leader  (my  first  cast)  dangling  from 
its  mouth,  the  gear  he  broke  away  with  a  few  minutes 
before  his  actual  capture. 

There  is  no  need  of  subjecting  fishes  to  any  pain  in 
angling.  Hook  them  in  the  lips,  and  kill  them  the 
very  second  they  are  taken  from  the  water.  Letting 
them  die  slowly  not  only  pains  the  captured  fishes,  but 
injures  them  as  food. 

Be  a  sportsman  in  angling  as  well  as  in  hunting. 
The  chivalric  gunner,  unlike  the  market  shooter,  does 
not  pot  his  quail  huddled  stationary  on  the  ground;  he 
gallantly  takes  it  on  the  wing — gives  it  a  fair  chance. 
So  the  Angler,  unlike  the  trade  fisher,  gives  his  game 
fair  play.  I  catch  quite  my  share  of  many  species  of 
fishes,  but  I  only  rarely  suffer  them  to  swallow  the 
bait,  and  this  by  accident.  Even  pickerel  and  fluke 
(plaice)  can  be  abundantly  taken  by  being  hooked  in 
the  lips.  I  never  allow  the  pickerel  or  the  black  bass 
to  swallow  the  bait;  I  hook  them  in  the  lip  as  I  hook 
my  trout — on  the  wing,  as  it  were. 


CHAPTER    XVII 

DOCTOR     NATURE 

"The  wise  for  cure  on  exercise  depend; 
God  never  made  His  work  for  man  to  mend. " 

"He  that  takes  no  holiday  hastens  a  long  rest." 

Game  is  not  the  only  thing  sought  for  by  many  men 
and  women  who  go  angling  and  shooting.  Wise  Lord 
Russell  used  to  ride  to  the  hounds  until  he  bagged  an 
appetite,  then  turn  suddenly  and  ride  as  hard  as 
possible  to  the  nearest  farmhouse  and  eat  a  hearty 
meal.  Audubon  and  Wilson  went  afield  to  study 
ornithology;  Gray  and  Thoreau  for  the  study  of 
general  natural  history,  and  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  men  and  women  less  famous  have  gone  afield  with 
rod  and  gun  for  still  another  quarry — health. 

Lord  Russell's  appetite  hunting  reminds  me  of  the 
case  of  a  young  invalid  whom  I  once  took  on  a  trout 
fishing  trip.  The  young  man  had  been  ill  all  his  life. 
Nobody  seemed  to  know  what  his  complaint  was,  but 
everybody  he  came  in  contact  with  agreed  that  he  was 
ill.  He  looked  it,  and  often  said  he  was  born  that  way. 
I  defined  his  case  the  first  day  I  met  him — the  city 
complaint,  a  complication  of  general  under-the- 
weather-ness  that  is  brought  about  by  foul  air,  im- 
proper exercise,  steady  indoor  work,  irregularity, 
cigarettes,  and  incorrect  food  incorrectly  eaten.  He's 
•well  now.    He  went  out  in  the  woods  for  two  weeks 

104 


Doctor  Nat\jire  105 

every  three  months  for  six  years,  and  at  present  he's  as 
fat  and  solid  as  a  Delaware  shad.  I  shall  never  forget 
his  expression  when  he  hooked  his  first  breath  of  fresh 
air  and  creeled  a  genuine  outdoor  appetite.  A  woods 
appetite  is  very  different  from  the  hunger  that  once 
in  a  while  comes  to  the  always-in-the-city  man.  It 
strikes  suddenly,  one's  knees  begin  to  shake,  and  a 
cold  perspiration  breaks  out  on  the  forehead.  My 
poor  young  friend,  having  never  previously  experi- 
enced an  appetite,  of  course  didn't  know  what  had 
taken  hold  of  him.  He  began  to  cry  and  totter,  and  I 
stepped  up  to  him  just  in  time  to  save  him  from  falling 
off  a  moss-covered  rock  into  a  roaring  trout  stream. 

*'I'm  ill,"  he  said,  **have  been  ill  all  my  life.  I 
thought  this  trip  would  do  me  good  but  I'm  worse. 
Please  let  me  lie  down;  I'm  very  faint. " 

'*0h,  come,"  said  I,  ** you're  only  hungry;  here, 
give  me  your  rod,  and  lean  on  my  arm;  you'll  be  all 
right  in  a  little  while." 

I  took  him  up  to  the  farmhouse  and  started  him 
slowly  on  some  deviled  trout  and  watercress.  Poor 
fellow,  he  reminded  me  of  a  young  setter  dog  born  and 
brought  up  in  the  city  and  taken  afield  for  the  first  time. 
Well,  that  young  man  did  nothing  but  cry  and  eat  for 
two  weeks.  He  then  went  home  to  tell  his  folks  he  had 
come  to  life,  and  then  hurried  out  to  feed  and  weep  for 
another  month.  I  know  a  hundred  young  men  and 
women  in  New  York  who  are  in  a  bad  way  with  the 
city  complaint.  The  streets  are  filled  with  ghost-like 
creatures.  Lord  Derby  is  right:  **If  you  do  not  find 
time  for  exercise  you  will  have  to  find  time  for  illness." 

**  To-morrow  we  will  go  a-fishing;  do  thou  go  now 
and  fetch  the  bait. " — Hymir  to  Thar. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  BROOK  TROUT 

"  Then,  give  me  the  trout  of  the  mountain  stream, 
With  his  crimson  stars  and  his  golden  gleam; 
When  he,  like  a  hero,  on  the  moss  lies, 

^  The  Angler  has  won  his  fairest  prize!" 

Author  Unknown. 

Trout  Taking  Flies. — '*  Trout  invariably  strike  the 
insect  first  with  their  tails,  knocking  it  into  the  water 
and  then  devouring  it  with  a  swift  dart  which  can 
hardly  be  distinguished  from  the  original  movement, 
so  quickly  does  one  succeed  the  other. '' — W.  C.  Prime. 

Trout  Colors. — The  color  of  a  trout's  back  depends 
on  the  color  of  the  bottom  of  the  river.  Rapidly 
growing  trout  differ  greatly  in  spots  and  color  from 
those  which  grow  slowly  and  thrive  badly.  A  mid- 
dle-aged trout  differs  in  color  from  an  aged  trout. 
Speaking  generally,  the  young,  healthy,  fast-growing 
fish  will  have  silvery  sides,  white  belly,  and  plenty  of 
well-defined  spots.  The  poorly  fed  fish  will  have  few 
or  no  spots,  a  drab  belly,  and  muddy  yellow  sides. 
Old  trout  are  particularly  lank  and  large-headed. 

Tame  Trout. — An  English  gentleman  has  two  brook 
trout  that  take  flies  from  his  fingers,  and  that  ring  a 

io6 


THe  BrooK  Trovjit  107 

little  bell  cord^wlien~tIiey  are  hungry.  They  were 
taught  this  latter  performance  by  having  bits  of  food 
tied  to  the  cord  when  it  was  first  introduced. 

Wild  Trout  and  Tame. — ''Somehow  the  catching  of, 
as  it  were,  stall-fed  trout  has  not  the  sa^ne  charm  as  the 
fishing  for  the  wild  trout.  The  domestics  lack  that 
fierce  rush  and  dash  of  the  wild  beauty.'' — John  B. 
Robinson. 

Sight,  Hearing,  etc.,  of  Trout. — "There  is  no  ques- 
tion ...  as  to  the  high  development  of  the  senses  of 
sight,  taste,  and  hearing  in  trout. " — Wm.  C.  Harris. 

Trout  at  Play. — ''  Many  times  have  I  leaned  over  the 
sides  of  my  boat  in  Northern  waters,  where  the  trout 
lay  beneath  me,  and  seen  the  mottled  beauties  chase 
each  other,  and  race  and  leap  in  rivalry  of  sport,  until 
their  bright  sides  irradiated  the  dark  stream  with 
glancing  light,  as  if  the  rays  of  the  sun  had  taken 
water  and  were  at  their  bath. '' — W.  H.  H.  Murry. 

Trout  in  Hungary. — The  streams  of  Hungary  afford 
excellent  angling  for  trout  and  grayling. 

Unidentified  Trout. — M.  P.  Dunham  of  Ovando, 
Montana,  a  sportsman's  guide  of  many  years'  experi- 
ence, writes  me:  *'We  have  two  trout  here  in  Mon- 
tana that  I  do  not  find  pictured  in  The  Angler^ s  Guide 
or  any  other  book  I  have  seen  containing  the  technical 
portraits  of  the  fishes.  One  of  these  trout  weighs  up 
to  forty-nine  pounds  and  its  average  weights  are  twelve 
pounds  to  fifteen  pounds.  The  other  is  a  small  trout 
that  averages  less  than  one  pound  in  weight,  and  it 


io8  THe  Determined  Angler 

has  no  spots.  The  large  trout  has  a  few  spots,  these 
being  particularly  brilliant  in  the  mating  season — 
September  and  October.  The  best  time  to  fish  for  this 
large  species  is  in  A'ugust  and  September.  Both  of 
these  unidentified  trout  will  rise  to  the  artificial  fly, 
but  in  fly-fishing  I  have  never  taken  a  specimen  of  the 
large  species  that  weighed  over  six  pounds,  the  fish 
ranging  beyond  this  weight  favoring  small  fish  and 
red  meat  for  bait.  The  waters  are  overstocked  with 
the  large  variety;  the  small  unspotted  variety  is  only 
in  one  stream.''  Undoubtedly  these  two  trout  are 
odd  forms  of  well-known  species.  Mr.  Dunham 
should  send  specimens  of  each  to  the  United  States 
Fish  Commission  at  Washington.  The  small  trout  will 
undoubtedly  prove  to  be  the  common  mountain  trout, 
whose  peculiar  habitat — the  one  stream  Mr.  Dunham 
mentions — is  responsible  for  its  peculiar  coloring.  The 
large  fish  that  ranges  up  to  forty-nine  pounds  is  no 
doubt  a  form  of  lake  trout  which  has  been  known  to 
attain  a  weight  of  eighty  pounds  and  a  length  of  six 
feet. 

The  Troufs  Symmetry. — ''Few  humanly  designed 
lines  are  more  graceful  than  those  of  the  yacht.  The 
trout  is  made  up  of  such  lines.  It  is  a  submarine 
designed  by  the  Almighty.  It  makes  the  most  of  the 
simple  elements  of  artistic  beauty — symmetry  of 
line,  suggestive  of  agile  power,  and  delicately  blended 
harmonies  of  rich  color.'* — New  York  Evening  Tele- 
grantj  editorial  page,  July  17, 1915. 

The  Beautiful  Trout. — '*0f  all  the  many  species  of 
trout,  Salvelinus  or  Salmo,  the  brook  tront  yfontinaliSy  is 
by  far  the  most  beautiful. " — Charles  Zpibeon  Southard. 


THe  BrooK  Trovit  109 

A  Loving  Trout. — At  the  Wintergreen  estate,  High- 
land Lake,  Winsted,  Conn.,  a  brook  trout  was  kept  in 
captivity  in  a  deep  spring  for  seven  years.  When  the 
fish  was  fifteen  inches  in  length  two  other  brook  trout, 
a  male  and  female,  each  ten  inches  long,  were  placed 
in  the  spring  to  keep  the  old  fellow  company.  He 
promptly  fell  in  love  with  the  lady  trout  and  killed 
and  swallowed  her  escort. 

Albino  Trout. — The  fish  hatchery  in  St.  Paul,  Minn., 
had  at  one  time  twenty  thousand  albino  trout  in  stock. 
This  species  was  discovered  in  1893.  There  is  some- 
thing pecuHar  in  Minnesota  waters  which  aids  propa- 
gation of  this  species.  The  fish  are  white  mottled  with 
red  and  yellow  spots ;  the  fins  are  white  with  red  bands 
mottled  with  yellow.  The  eyes  are  red  and  the  trout 
has  apparently  a  transparent  skin  so  that  the  bones 
are  visible  through  it. 

Rainbow  Trout. — Dr.  A.  E.  Buzard,  of  Hayward, 
Calif.,  fishing  in  the  Spokane  River  within  ten  minutes' 
walk  of  the  city  of  Spokane,  Wash.,  creeled  eleven  rain- 
bow trout  weighing,  collectively,  seventeen  pounds. 

Rocky  Mountain  Trout. — H.  E.  Peck,  of  Kenman, 
North  Dakota,  and  H.  N.  Stabeck,  of  Minneapolis, 
Minn.,  enjoyed  good  trout  fishing  last  summer  in  the 
Crow  West  country  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  A 
catch  of  thirty-one  trout  weighed,  collectively,  fifty- 
one  pounds.  The  largest  specimen  weighed  three 
and  one  fourth  pounds. 

Flood-water  Trout. — When  the  trout  stream  Is 
flooded,  the  trout  find  plenty  of  food  and  they  gorge 


no  THe  Determined  Angler 

themselves  with  worms,  etc.  Then  they  refuse  the 
Angler's  bait  for  several  days — "trout  feed  on  a 
rising  stream,  not  on  a  falling  stream. '' — E.  Curley. 

A  Tame  Trout. — *' Sunbeam,  the  pet  speckled  trout 
in  the  fish  hatchery  at  Estes  Park,  is  very  fond  of  being 
stroked  and  petted,  and  will  swim  around  and  rub  it- 
self against  a  person's  hand  whenever  a  chance  is 
given  it/* — Estes  (Calif.)  Correspondent  New  York 
World,  ril  warrant  this  fish  only  rubs  its  lips  against 
the  hand  of  man.  No  fish  will  willingly  allow  its  body 
to  come  in  contact  with  a  man's  hand,  because  fishes 
are  covered  with  a  slime  that  protects  them  when  they 
encounter  rocks,  logs,  etc.,  and  they  naturally  would 
not  voluntarily  waste  this  valuable  armor. 

Traits  of  the  Trout. — The  brook  trout  (Salvelinus 
fontinalis),  using  its  tail  with  vigor  and  precision,  will 
splash  water  into  the  midst  of  a  mass  of  flying  insects 
(midge,  black  gnat,  mosquito,  etc.),  and  thus  disable 
these  insects  so  that  they  will  fall  on  the  surface  of  the 
water,  where  they  become  easy  prey  to  the  voracious 
trout.  Fontinalis  will  also  use  his  tail  in  striking  to 
disable  larger  insects  (butterflies,  beetles,  cricket, 
potato-bug,  etc.),  and  the  Angler's  artificial  flies  when 
they  are  floating  in  or  upon  the  water. 

R^ainbow  Trout. — "The  rainbow  takes  the  fly  so 
readily  that  there  is  no  reason  for  resorting  to  grass- 
hoppers, salmon  eggs,  or  other  bait.  It  is  a  fish  whose 
gameness  will  satisfy  the  most  exacting  of  expert 
Anglers,  and  whose  readiness  to  take  any  proper  line 
will  please  the  most  impatient  of  inexperienced 
amateurs." — Prof.  Evermann. 


TKe  BrooK  Tro\it  ill 

The  Tactful  Trout. — ''Trout  are  emblems  of  quiet, 
calm,  and  gentleness,  such  as  love  not  to  be  in  troubled 
waters  or  to  be  tossed  to  and  fro  by  the  blustering  of 
wicked  and  malevolent  spirits,  but  rather  live  quiet 
at  home  than  enjoy  abundance  through  labor  and 
trouble. '' — Randal  Holme. 

"  Double-headed  Trout.— A  two-headed  brook  trout  is 
the  product  of  the  fish  hatchery  at  Colebrook,  N.  H. 

Trout  in  Side  Currents. — ''As  a  general  rule  al- 
though many  trout  are  taken  near,  very  near  the 
rough,  white  water  of  a  stream,  they  do  not  as  a  rule 
lie  in  the  very  swiftest  portions,  but  in  adjacent  and 
quieter  side  currents.'* — Samuel  G.  Camp. 

The  Angler^s  Joy. — "The  brook  trout  always  will 
be  the  Angler's  greatest  joy,  but  the  German  brown 
trout  [introduced  in  American  waters]  and  the  rainbow 
trout  add  variety  to  the  social  Ufe  of  the  streams. " — 
Neal  Brown. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE    ANGLER 

**  I  live  not  in  myself,  but  I  become 
Portion  of  that  around  me;  and  to  me 
High  mountains  are  a  feeling,  but  the  hum 
Of  human  cities  torture." 

Byron. 

"He'd  eat  his  lunch  in  a  minute; 
He  had  no  time  to  spare. 
At  a  mounted  fish  in  a  window 
He'd  stop  an  hour  to  stare." 

Judge, 

The  Lone  Angler, — "The  reason  a  man  likes  to  go 
angling  is  that  his  family  doesn't  like  to  go  with 
him.'* — New  York  Press, 

The  True  Angler. — **If  true  Anglers,  you  are  sure 
to  be  gentle;  and  as  the  truly  gentle  are  always  virtu- 
ous, you  must  be  happy.  Let  neither  prosperity  nor 
adversity  deaden  *the  fresh  feeling  after  Nature' 
which  the  use  of  the  rod  and  reel  always  heightens  or 
confers.  Whether  overladen  with  good  fortune  or 
suffering  under  the  shocks  of  adversity,  forget  not  to 
take  the  magic  wand  and  repair  to  the  murmuring 
waters.  'The  music  of  those  gentle  moralists  will 
steal  into  your  heart ' ;  and,  while  invigorating  physical 
energy,  your  souls  will  be  charmed  and  your  minds 


The   Angler  113 

soothed  and  tempered  by  the  melody  of  birds,  the 
sights  of  nature,  and  the  sounds  of  inferior  animals 
above,  around,  and  beneath  the  enlivening  waters. 
With  rosy  dreams  and  bright  streams,  breezy  morns 
and  mellow  skies,  a  light  heart  and  a  clear  conscience, 
may  'God  speed  ye  well.*'' — Genio  C.  Scott,  Fishing 
in  American  Waters, 

Real  vs.  Rural  Angler. — The  assertion  that  the 
bent-pin-fishing  country  boy  can  catch  more  trout 
than  the  properly  equipped  Angler  is  material  of  the 
comic  papers.  No  impracticable  boy,  whether  he  be 
of  the  country  or  of  the  city,  can  excel  the  correctly 
rigged,  careful  Angler.  The  bent-pin  youth  of  the 
farm  may  outfish  the  unskillful,  showy  tyro  from  the 
city,  but  to  compete  with  the  scientific  Angler  he 
would  have  about  the  same  chance  of  outfishing  the 
expert  as  a  cow  would  have  fishing  alongside  of  a  mink. 

The  Bicycle  Angler, — Mr.  David  Rivers  writes  me: 
**I  ride  my  wheel  to  my  favorite  angling  places  regu- 
larly in  the  spring,  summer,  and  autumn  times.  The 
four-ounce  rod  takes  up  no  noticeable  space  on  the 
wheel,  and  my  leader-box  and  fly-book  are  easily 
carried  in  my  pockets. ' ' 

The  Determined  Angler. — "There  is  peculiar 
pleasure  in  catching  a  trout  in  a  place  where  nobody 
thinks  of  looking  for  them,  and  at  an  hour  when 
everybody  believes  they  cannot  be  caught." — Henry 
van  Dyke. 

Dry  and  Wet  Fly  Angler. — ''Startling  as  the  state- 
ment may  sound,  it  is  probably  true  that  the  really 

8 


114  TKe  Determined  Angler 

good  wet-fly  fisherman  is  a  greater  rarity  than  the 
really  good  dry-fly  man.  '* — London  Field. 

The  Expert  Fly  Angler.— ''A  real  expert  with  the 
wet-fly  is  a  much  rarer  bird  than  one  with  the  dry. " — 
London  Fishing  Gazette, 

The  Finished  Fly  Angler.—  "...  to  be  a  finished 
wet-fly  Angler  one  must  possess  as  much  skill  as  the 
dry-fly  fisherman.*'^ — Emlyn  M.  Gill. 

The  Angler  Body  and  Soul.— "To  take  fish  is  only 
the  body  of  the  gentle  art.  Some  of  its  real  enjoyments 
are  what  the  Angler  sees  and  feels — the  echo  of  the 
running  streams,  the  music  of  the  birds,  the  beauty  of 
the  flowers  peering  at  him  from  every  side,  the  bracing 
atmosphere,  the  odor  of  pines,  hemlocks,  and  spruce; 
the  hush  of  the  woods  at  night,  the  morning  song  of 
the  robin,  and  the  revived  appetite.  '''^— A.  L.  H. 

Ye  Gude  Angler. — "Wha  ever  heard  o'  a  gude 
angler  being  a  bad  or  indifferent  man?" — Noctes. 

The  Merry  Angler. — "And  if  the  angler  take  fysshe: 
surely  thenne  is  there  noo  man  merier  than  he  is  in 
his  spyryte. " — Dame  Juliana  Berners  (1496). 

The  Religious  Angler. — "The  old  man  fished  not 
for  pastime,  nor  solely  for  a  subsistence,  but  as  a 
solemn  sacrament  and  withdrawal  from  the  world, 
just  as  the  aged  read  their  Bible. '' — Thoreau. 

The  Satisfied  Angler. — Trout  in  the^  creel  or  no 
trout  in  the  creel,  the  Angler  never  complains  of  poor 


The   Angler  1 15 

sport  if  there  be  trout  in  the  water  he  fishes,  if  the 
weather  be  pleasant,  and  the  scenery  fair.  Some  fisher- 
men judge  their  day  by  the  actual  catch  of  fish.  The 
true  rodster  loves  the  pursuit  and  capture  of  the  fish, 
the  bright  day,  and  the  beautiful  natural  surroundings 
equally  well. 

The  Tidy  Angler. — I  don't  care  if  the  fish  I  catch 
weigh  only  a  pound,  no  matter  what  the  species  may 
be.  My  tackle  is  light,  fine,  and  properly  rigged,  and 
with  it,  in  taking  big  fish  or  half-pound  and  pound 
fish,  I  have  just  as  much  sport  as  the  man  who  uses 
heavy,  coarse,  ill-kept  tackle  on  bigger  game  alone. 
The  woodcock — the  king  of  game  birds — is  bagged 
with  No.  10  shot,  but  the  sport  of  taking  it  is  quite  as 
great  as  the  shooting  of  fowl  ten  times  its  size. 

The  Assiduous  Angler. — The  constant-in-applica- 
tion  man  becomes  the  practical  fisherman. 

The  Compleat  Angler. — ''Walton's  book  is  as  fresh 
as  a  handful  of  wild  violets  and  sweet  lavender.  It 
breathes  the  odors  of  green  jfields  and  woods." — 
Henry  van  Dyke. 

The  Literary  Angler. — Izaak  Walton's  famous 
work.  The  Compleat  Angler ,  or  the  Contemplative  Man's 
Recreation,  a  copy  of  the  first  edition,  small  8vo, 
original  sheep  binding,  London,  1653,  brought  the 
highest  price  of  the  day  (April  9,  191 5)  at  the  sale  of 
the  library  of  the  late  General  Brayton  Ives  at  the 
American  Art  Galleries,  New  York,  $2475.  George 
D.  Smith  was  the  successful  bidder.  The  record  price 
for  this  edition  is  $6000,  which  was  paid  at  the  sale  of 


Ii6  TKe  Determined  Angler 

the  library  of  W.  C.  Van  Antwerp  of  New  York  some 
years  ago  at  Sotheby's  in  London  by  the  late  Bernard 
Quaritch,  acting  as  agent  for  the  late  J.  Pierpont 
Morgan,  in  whose  collection  the  valuable  volume 
now  is. 

A  Centenarian  Angler. — Mrs.  Jane  T.  Rinkle  of 
Bristol,  Tenn.,  is  over  one  hundred  years  of  age.  Still 
vigorous  for  one  of  her  years,  Mrs.  Rinkle  believes  that 
her  long  life  and  her  bright  prospect  for  living  some 
years  longer  is  due  to  her  fondness  for  angling.  '*I 
have  hardly  passed  a  fishing  season  in  fifty  years,*'  said 
the  old  lady  at  her  last  anniversary  party,  ^*that  I 
have  not  gone  to  the  river  with  hook  and  line." 

The  Woman  Angler. — The  Duchess  of  Bedford  has 
the  distinction  of  a  record  catch  of  English  salmon. 
Her  creel  for  one  day  numbered  thirteen,  the  greatest 
string  of  salmon  ever  taken  in  a  single  day  by  a  woman. 
Three  other  prominent  English  women  Anglers  are 
Lady  Sybil  Grey,  daughter  of  Earl  Grey,  Mihcent, 
Duchess  of  Sutherland,  and  Lady  Rosemary  Portal, 
only  child  of  the  second  Earl  of  Cairns.  Each  of  these 
ladies  are  highly  expert  in  fly-casting. 

The  Waltonian  Angler. — **It  matters  not  at  all 
what  trout  waters  the  Angler  fishes  if  he  has  the  true 
and  kindly  spirit  of  Izaak  Walton,  the  Master  A?igler 
of  years  ago;  for  then  every  stream  and  lake  has  its 
own  peculiar  and  delightful  charms  in  which  the  Angler 
revels  while  angling,  with  either  the  wet  or  the  dry 
fly,  to  fathom  their  piscatorial  secrets.  Of  all  sport, 
I  know  of  none  that  seems  to  develop  in  the  individual 
such  a  kindly  spirit,  such  a  full  appreciation  of  all 


The   Angler  117 

living  things,  and  such  an  absorbing  love  for  the  many 
and  varied  charms  of  'the  open'  as  fly-fishing." — 
Charles  Zibeon  Southard. 

The  Merciful  Angler. — The  names  of  three  members 
of  a  recent  jury  in  the  County  Court  of  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.,  were  Fish,  Fisher,  and  Fishline — a  trio  of  honest 
men,  no  doubt.  With  Bates  and  Waters  added,  this 
jury  would  have  little  trouble  in  mercifully  holding  up 
the  scales  of  justice. 

The  Peaceful  Angler. — "Don't  think  of  your  busi- 
ness or  profession  while  fishing.  Forget  your  desk, 
your  pen,  and  also  your  debts  and  your  enemies,  if  you 
have  any.  ''—''The  Professor. " 

The  Mathematical  Angler, — "  His  rule  in  fishing  was 
to  fish  in  the  difficult  places  which  others  were  likely 
to  skip." — Daniel  Webster. 

The  Ever- Youthful  Angler. — "Don't  become  old — 
go  fishing  once  or  twice  a  week. " — " The  Professor." 

The  Haley onian  Angler. — "The  whole  arcana  book 
of  trout  fishing  consists  in  rather  the  mental  construc- 
tion of  the  Angler  than  in  the  manner  and  method  of 
the  process.  The  fish  is  a  convenient  peg,  so  to  say, 
on  which  we  hang  the  dolcefar  niente,  and  render  the 
day's  sport  in  its  pursuit  halcyon  and  superlative. 
The  sport  itself  may  be  insufficient,  but  there  is  always 
some  recompense  in  the  effort  made  and  in  the  close 
communion  with  'dear  nature's  self.'  Not  always  do 
large  bags  and  great  results  crown  the  Angler's  desire. 
Too  often  it  is  far  otherwise,  and  yet  the  true  Angler 


Ii8  THe  Determined  Angler 

never  feels  like  giving  up  fishing  because   of   poor 
sport/' — ^John  Harrington  Keene 

The  Luxuriant  Angler. — James  L.  Breeze's  string  of 
salmon  pools  in  Restigouche  cost  this  enthusiastic 
Angler  $35>ooo. 

The  Concentrated  Angler. — **  A  gentleman  hesitates 
to  bother  anybody  whose  mind  is  concentrated  on  his 
fishing.  The  expert  knows  by  experience  one  question 
leads  to  another,  then  on  to  begging,  borrowing,  or 
buying.  The  expert  knows  that  tyros  are  never  pro- 
vided with  tackle,  bait,  or  reasonable  consideration  for 
others.  They  expect  the  whole  boatload  of  Anglers  to 
wait  on  them  because  they  catch  no  fish." — Louis 
Rhead. 

The  Home  Angler. — "The  sporting  element  among 
fishermen  haven't  any  fine  sensibilities  .  .  .  the  true 
fishermen  fish  for  edible  fish  only  for  their  own  use  and 
the  use  of  their  families." — *'Piscator." 

The  Lost  Angler. — '*  Remember  that  water  always 
is  supposed  to  run  south,  save  in  a  few  instances  where 
it  runs  direct  north  or  west  from  the  mountains,  as  the 
Red  River  in  Minnesota,  flowing  north,  for  instance. 
This  certainly  would  be  a  misleader.  But  as  a  rule 
water  runs  south.  Follow  it.  Along  streams  man 
makes  his  abode. " — Robert  Page  Lincoln. 


CHAPTER  XX 

ANGLING 

"...  which,  as  in  no  other  game 
A  man  may  fish  and  praise  His  name. " 

W.  Basse. 

"I  chose  of  foure  good  dysportes  and  honeste  gamys,  that  is  to 
wyte:  of  huntynge:  hawkynge:  fysshynge:  and  foulynge.  The 
best  to  my  symple  dyscrecon  why  then  is  fysshynge:  called 
Anglynge  with  a  rodde:  and  a  line  and  an  hoke. " — Dame  Juliana 
Berners,  The  Treaty se  of  Fysshynge  wyth  an  Angle^  1496. 

**  If  the  bending  rod  and  the  ringing  reel 
Give  proof  that  you've  fastened  the  tempered  steel, 
Be  sure  that  the  battle  is  but  begun 
And  not  till  he's  landed  is  victory  won." 

Author  Unknown. 

Fair  and  Foul  Angling. — Anybody  can  catch  a 
trout  with  a  worm.  This  is  the  bait  of  the  boy  and 
the  boatman.  The  Angler  gives  the  trout  a  fair  battle 
with  the  artificial  fly.  Comparing  live-bait  fishing 
to  artificial  fly  angling  is  like  comparing  blacksmithry 
to  jewel  working,  bronco  breaking  to  genteel  horse- 
manship, or  buccaneering  to  yachting. 

Refinement  of  Angling. — Angling  is  fishing  governed 
by  rules  of  chivalry — correct  tackle,  limit  in  the  catch, 
and  humane  treatment  of  the  game. 

119 


I20  THe  Determined  Angler 

Landing  the  Fish. — "The  surest  way  to  take  the 
fish  is  give  her  leave  to  play  and  yield  her  line.'' — 
Quarles,  Shepheard's  Eclogues,  1644.  Subdue  a  big 
fish  before  you  try  to  land  him.  Don't  be  in  a  hurry. 
Give  him  line,  but  keep  it  taut  (not  tight),  and  don't 
become  excited.  Don't  try  to  yank  him  out  of  his 
element  or  pull  him  through  the  line  guides.  Raise  the 
rod  tip  over  the  back  of  your  head,  and  don't  grab  the 
line — guide  the  game  into  the  landing  net  or  up  to 
the  gaff.  Take  your  time.  Be  glad  if  the  fish  escapes. 
His  life  is  as  important  as  yours — to  him,  at  least. 
Besides,  you'd  soon  tire  of  fishing  if  you  never  lost  a 
fish.  "The  play's  the  thing"  in  angling,  anyway, 
because,  as  an  Angler,  you  can  buy  fish  cheaper  than 
you  can  catch  them,  if  you  play  fair — if  you're  not  of 
the  gentry  that  judge  the  day  by  quantity  instead  of 
quality.  Some  of  the  greatest  Anglers  are  the  poorest 
fish  killers,  but  to  them  one  fish  correctly  captured  on 
chivalric  tackle  means  more  than  a  tubful  of  butchered 
victims  means  to  the  unenlightened  bungler.  Contrast 
and  conditions  count  for  something  in  everything. 
If  there  were  no  cloudy  days  we'd  never  correctly 
value  the  sunshine.  Method  in  the  pursuit,  ap- 
propriateness of  the  equipment,  and  uncertainty 
in  the  catch,  wholly  distasteful  to  the  selfish 
neophyte,  are  thoroughly  appreciated  by  the 
Angler. 

Ancient  Angling. — One  of  the  most  ancient  literary 
works  on  fishing,  perhaps  the  most  ancient  of  all  really 
known  volumes  on  the  subject,  is  Hauleutics  of 
OppiaUy  the  work  of  a  Greek  poet,  a.d.  198,  from 
which  many  articles  on  fishing  and  angling,  thought 
to  be  modern,  have  been  taken.     Athenaeus  tells  us 


Angling  121 

that  several  writers  wrote  treatises  or  poems  on  fishing 
centuries  before  the  Christian  era. 

Old  Angling  Books. — 1486 — The  Booke  of  St.  Albans; 
by  Dame  Juliana  Berners.  1590 — Booke  of  Fishing 
with  Hook  and  Line;  by  Leonard  Mascall.  1596 — 
Hawking,  Hunting,  Fowling  and  Fishing;  by  W.  C. 
Faukener.  i6o6^-Booke  of  Angling  or  Fishing;  by 
Samuel  Gardner,  D.D.  1651 — Art  of  Angling;  by 
Thomas  Barker  (the  second  edition  of  this  book, 
published  in  1 657,  was  issued  under  the  title  of  Barker's 
Delight),  1652 — Young  Sportsman's  Delight  and  In- 
structor in  Angling,  etc.;  by  Gervase  Markham.  1653 
— The  Compleat  Angler,  or  the  Contemplative  Man's 
Recreation,  etc. ;  by  Izaak  Walton  (the  second  edition, 
almost  rewritten  by  the  author,  appeared  in  1655). 
1662 — Experienced  Angler,  or  Angling  Improved;  by 
Robert  Venables.  1676  —  Angler's  Delight,  etc.; 
by  William  Gilbert.  1681 — Angler's  Vade  Mecum;  by 
Chetham.  1682 — Complete  Trailer;  by  Nobles.  1696 
—The  True  Art  of  Angling;  by  J.  S. 

Carrying  the  Rod. — Joint  your  rod  only  when  you 
reach  the  place  of  angling,  and  take  it  apart  again 
when  you  are  ready  to  leave  the  water  for  camp, 
unless  the  camp  is  on  the  edge  of  the  lake  or  stream. 
When  angling  along  thickly  wooded  banks,  carry  the 
rod  in  front  of  you,  tip  first,  pointing  the  tip  through 
the  bushes  you  penetrate;  never  pull  it  after  you. 
Fasten  the  hook  on  one  of  the  reel  bars,  and  then 
thrust  the  rod's  tip  through  the  branches  or  shrub- 
bery ahead  of  you  when  you  move  along,  casting  here 
and  there.  This  is  not  necessary  when  one  only  moves 
a  step  or  two,  for  then,  if  there  be  open  space,  the  rod 


122  The  Determined  Angler 

and  line  may  be  held  clear  of  the  underbrush  and 
branches.  In  all  cases  keep  the  rod  ahead  of  you. 
When  disjointed,  the  rod  pieces  may  be  held  together 
by  small  rubber  bands  until  the  rod  case  is  made  use  of, 
but  don't  lay  the  rod  away  with  the  rubber  bands 
intact,  as  the  rubber  will  bend  the  tip  out  of  shape, 
dislodge  the  wood  coating,  disturb  the  whipping,  and 
tarnish  the  ferrules.  Dr.  E.  F.  Conyngham  of  Bonner, 
Mont.,  doesn't  like  my  notion  of  carrying  the  rod  tip 
first.  The  Doctor  says  he  favors  carrying  it  butt  first 
with  the  tip  trailing  behind.  ''I  have  fished  with  a 
fly  for  trout  and  salmon  nearly  forty  years  in  Europe 
and  this  continent,"  says  the  Doctor,  ''and  never  yet 
saw  an  expert  Angler  carry  a  rod  in  the  way  described 
by  Mr.  Bradford.  That  is  just  the  proper  caper  to 
break  tips.  The  rod  in  going  through  brush  should  be 
carried  butt  forward;  then  the  tip  will  trail  as  easily  as 
the  tail  on  a  dog,  and  furthermore,  you  can  walk  at 
good  speed  without  interference.  In  my  many  years 
of  fly  fishing  I  have  had  one  broken  tip;  a  woman 
knocked  it  down  and  stepped  on  it.  Luckily  it  was 
lancewood,  so  I  could  repair  it.  What  would  have  been 
my  predicament  had  the  rod  been  of  split  bamboo?" 
Very  good.  Doctor.  I  may  be  wrong  but,  I  learned 
my  way  from  my  fathers  of  the  angle — Seth  Green, 
John  Harrington  Keene,  Frederick  Mather,  William 
C.  Harris,  et  al. — when  I  was  being  taught  first  lessons 
in  fly-fishing.  Seth  Green,  John  Keene,  and  Harris 
personally  advised  me  to  carry  the  fly  rod  tip  in  front 
of  me,  and  each  of  the  trio  personally  showed  me  the 
method  on  the  trout  streams.  Harris  and  Keene 
always  carried  their  fly  rods  tip  first,  and  I  have  seen 
both  these  experts  along  the  streams  many  times 
during  many  years  of  personal  fishing  with  both  of 


Angling  123 

these  Anglers.  However,  Dr.  Conyngham  must  not 
be  denied  his  view  on  the  subject.  Just  as  there  are 
famous  wing  shots  who  shoot  with  one  eye  closed 
and  other  experts  who  give  trigger  with  both  eyes 
open,  so  In  angling,  there  are  many  practiced  hands 
who  disagree  on  the  various  ways  and  means  in  fishing. 
I  favor  keeping  my  tip  in  front  of  me,  and  while  I 
shall  never  change  this  method,  I  refrain  from  con- 
demning Dr.  Conyngham 's  contrastive  way  of  carrying 
his  tip.  Charles  Zibeon  Southard  agrees  with  both  the 
Doctor  and  me.  He  advises  carrying  the  tip  ahead  in 
the  open  and  behind  in  the  brush. 

The  Angling  World. — "Angling  takes  us  from  the 
confusion,  the  filth,  and  the  social  and  moral  degrada- 
tion of  the  big  cities  and  places  us  in  close  contact 
with  one  of  the  most  important  divisions  of  human 
labor — the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  which  is  the  real 
foundation  of  all  national  wealth  and  true  social 
happiness.  Everything  connected  with  the  land  is  cal- 
culated to  foster  the  best  and  noblest  feelings  of  the 
soul  and  to  give  the  mind  the  most  lofty  and  sublime 
ideas  of  universal  nature.  To  men  of  contemplative 
habits  the  roaming  along  brooks,  rivers,  lakes,  and 
fields  gives  rise  to  the  most  refined  intellectual  enjoy- 
ment. Such  persons  move  in  a  world  of  their  own  and 
experience  joys  and  sorrows  with  which  the  world 
cannot  meddle.  *' — A.  L.  H. 

Colorado  Trout  Streams. — Colorado  has  six  thou- 
sand miles  of  trout  streams. 

Angling  Saves  Words. — "Contemplation  and  quiet- 
ness!   Will  these  words  soon  be  labeled  in  our  die- 


124  THe  Determined  Angler 

tionaries  'obsolete'?  It  would  seem  so;  yet  there  will 
be  some  use  for  them,  among  old-fashioned  folk,  as 
long  as  the  word  *  angling*  holds  its  place." — Willis 
Boyd  Allen. 

Large-Trout  Angling. — Frank  Brigg,  of  London, 
England,  fishing  in  New  River,  caught  an  eighteen- 
pound  trout,  the  heaviest  specimen  of  trout  ever 
taken  in  a  London  water. 

Speculation  in  Angling. — ''I  often  wonder  if  the 
basis  of  fishing  is  not  founded  upon  the  element  of 
chance,  and  whether  fishing  does  not  fascinate  because 
it  is  a  species  of  gambling.  To  a  degree  it  is  a  hazard. 
You  take  your  best  tackle,  select  your  choicest  bait, 
and  you  do  more,  for  you  pray  to  the  goddess  of 
success." — ''Ancient  Mariner." 

Economy  in  Angling. — ''Don't  take  more  fish  than 
you  can  use;  if  you  do,  you  take  that  which  belongs 
to  someone  else. " — "  Tops*l." 

An  Angling  Classic. — "Angling  is  the  only  sport 
that  boasts  the  honor  of  having  given  a  classic  [Izaak 
Walton's  The  Compleat  Angler,  1653]  to  literature." — 
Henry  van  Dyke. 

How  to  Approach  a  Trout. — "  .  .  .  sense  of  hearing 
in  all  species  of  fish  is  a  matter  of  concussion  on  the 
surface  of  the  water.  Sit  motionless  in  a  boat,  and  you 
may  sing,  "I  Won't  Go  Home  'Til  Morning, "  or  any 
other  gala  song,  to  the  extreme  high  limit  of  your 
voices,  and  the  trout  or  any  other  fish  will  remain  un- 
disturbed, but,  scratch  your  toe  upon  the  bottom  of 


Ang'lin^  125 

the  boat,  and  presto!  the  pool  is  as  dead  and  barren 
as  a  burned  prairie.  Approach  a  pool  from  over  the 
bank  with  a  careless  tread,  and  when  you  reach  it  the 
trout  are  gone,  none  know  where.  Crawl  to  the  pool 
noiselessly  on  all  fours  and  you  will  find  your  trout 
reposing  without  fear  of  danger.  The  avoidance  of 
concussion  is  the  great  factor  on  a  trout  pool  or  stream 
m  getting  a  satisfactory  creel.  Slide,  rather  than  step, 
in  wading,  and  your  success  will  be  greater." — Wm. 
C.  Harris 

Strike  from  the  Reel  or  Hand? — "The  strike  must 
be  made  with  sufficient  force  and  no  more.  If  in- 
sufficient, the  hook  will  not  penetrate  far  enough  to 
hold  the  fish  in  its  subsequent  struggles,  and  if  the 
force  is  excessive  the  gut  will  break. at  its  weakest 
point,  and  leave  the  fly  and  possibly  one  or  more 
strands  of  gut  in  the  trout's  jaws.  The  Angler  should 
acquire  the  habit  of  striking  from  the  reel,  i.e.,  without 
holding  the  line  in  the  hand.  Many  old  fishermen 
prefer  holding  the  line  when  striking,  but  it  is  at  best  a 
risky  proceeding,  and  too  likely  to  result  in  a  breakage 
of  the  gut.*'— F.  M.  Halford,  The  Dry-Fly  Man's 
Handbook,  "Personally  I  never  *  strike  from  the 
reel'  .  .  .  because  less  control  is  had  over  the  line, 
likewise  the  fish.'* — Charles  Zibeon  Southard,  Trout 
Fly-Fishing  in  America.  I  favor  Mr.  Halford's 
method — "strike  from  the  reel" — in  fly-fishing  and  in 
weakfish  fishing  with  light  tackle.  In  heavy  bait 
fishing,  Mr.  Southard's  strike  with  the  "hand-held 
line"  suits  me. 

The  Silver  Hook, — "There  is  a  good  deal  of  fun  in 
thinking  you  are  going  to  have  it. " — New  York  Press, 


126  TKe  Determined  Angler 

True;  Walton  says  the  Angler's  anticipation  of  fishing 
is  as  great  a  joy  as  the  realization  of  it. 

Angling  Ailment. — '*We  never  get  over  the  fishing 
fever;  it  is  a  delightful  disease,  and,  thank  the  Lord, 
there  is  no  cure.  *' — Ira  W.  Moore. 

Angling  and  Nature. — ''Association  with  men  of 
the  world  narrows  the  heart;  communion  with  nature 
expands  it. '' — Jean  Paul  Richter. 

Angling  and  Mathematics. — "Angling  may  be  said 
to  be  so  much  like  the  Mathematics,  that  it  can  ne'er 
be  fully  learnt;  at  least  not  so  fully,  but  that  there  will 
still  be  more  new  experiments  left  for  the  tryal  of 
other  men  that  succeed  us." — Izaak  Walton,  The 
Compleat  Angler,  1653. 

Tendency  of  Angling. — ''I  am  now  over  76  [years 
in  age]  and  owe  my  life  to  fishing,  and  I  find  the 
tendency  of  fishing  is  to  make  one  careful,  artful, 
patient,  and  practical. '' — '*  Watcher. " 

Angling  a  Science. — ''Angling  is  a  science,  not 
merely  a  pastime.  It  will  broaden  you  and  start  your 
boy  in  a  manly  sport  that  will  draw  him  to  the  country 
instead  of  to  the  dance  hall,  to  the  fields  and  streams 
instead  of  to  the  pool  room. '' — "  Greenhorn.'' 

Fly  vs.  Worm. — "That  fly-fishing  is  clean,  and  free 
from  the  muscular  efforts  of  mountain-cHmbing;  that 
it  is  usually  rewarded  with  larger  fish  than  those  taken 
with  a  worm;  that  it  has  a  freedom,  a  jollity,  a  certain 
broad,  wide-spaced  exhilaration,   I  willingly  admit. 


Angling  127 

But,  the  humbler,  old-fashioned  method  has  a  charm 
of  its  own  which  I  am  not  ready  to  forego.  *' — WilUs 
Boyd  Allen. 

'*Ye  Gods  and  Little  Fishes.'*— "When  we  have 
become  familiar  with  the  great  cities  with  their  be- 
wildering sights  and  distracting  sounds,  the  finest 
things  remain  to  be  discovered,  and  these  discoveries 
must  be  made  as  we  stand  open-eyed  in  the  presence 
of  God's  workmanship.  Hills  and  streams,  woods  and 
flowers,  bees  and  birds  and  butterflies,  the  flora  and 
fauna  of  this  earth  where  we  have  our  home  for  a 
little  time,  should,  somehow,  be  brought  into  the  life 
of  the  child.  The  boy  who  grows  up  into  manhood 
without  being  privileged  to  know  the  world  of  nature 
by  personal  contact  has  been  robbed.  He  may  be 
intelligent  in  many  things  and  a  useful  member  of 
society,  but  he  has  missed  out  of  life  some  of  its 
deepest  satisfactions  and  purest  joys.  Indeed,  such 
an  one  is  not  symmetrically  educated,  and  is  quite 
likely  to  be  put  to  shame  as  the  years  pass  by. '* — 
Lathan  A.  Crandall,  Days  in  the  Open. 

Angling  Is  its  Own  Reward. — ''No  other  sportsman 
brings  home  more  from  his  sport  than  he  takes  to  it 
than  the  fisherman.  His  basket  is  heavy  with  present 
food  in  the  morning,  and  loaded  with  future  food  in 
the  afternoon,  with  an  appetite  and  a  sleepetite  that 
requires  three  days  to  satisfy.  *' — Hy.  JuHus. 

Ideal  Angling  Time. — The  last  two  weeks  in  June — 
what  lovelier  period  for  brook  trout  fishing  in  the  rich 
flower-lined  mountain  streams?  When  does  the  wild 
shrub  smell  sweeter  than  now,  the  wind  blow  more 


128  THe  Determined  Angler 

balmily,  the  songbirds  trill  sweeter,  and  the  spotted 
trout  bite  better? 

Landing  the  Trout. — The  proper  time  to  spend  in 
landing  a  fish  all  depends  upon  the  condition  of  your 
fishing  ground.  Lead  your  prize  away  from  obstruc- 
tions, keep  the  line  taut,  and  do  not  nervously  hurry 
the  play.    Take  your  time. 

Fishes*  Feeding-Time. — Fishes  are  said  to  bite 
better  between  the  new  moon  and  the  first  quarter; 
or  between  the  last  quarter  and  the  change. 

Calmness  in  Angling. — Don't  hurry  a  large  fish. 
Subdue  him  as  far  from  you  as  possible. 

Shadowless  Angling. — Never  let  your  shadow  fall 
upon  the  angling  water.  Keep  the  sun  in  front  of 
you. 

Striking  and  Hooking. — Nothing  is  more  difficult 
to  learn  about  fly-fishing  than  the  art  of  striking  or 
hooking  the  game. 

The  Fishless  Fisherman. — ''You  took  a  day  off 
from  your  work  and  went  fishing?  Have  any  luck?'* 
''Certainly.  A  day  off  is  luck  enough.'* — New  York 
American. 

Angling  Spirit. — "It  is  the  way  we  do  things  and 
the  spirit  in  which  we  prosecute  our  endeavors  that 
counts.  The  man  who  takes  the  day  to  go  fishing  on 
the  great  ocean  or  in  the  forest  and  can  commune  with 
Nature  can  be  as  good  a  Christian  as  the  best  man  that 


Angling  129 

ever  entered  the  portals  of  a  chiirch,  cathedral,  or 
synagogue.  '* — '*  Nature  Factor.  *' 

All  Sports  in  Angling. — "The  sport  that  sums  up 
dancing,  song  and  picture,  athletics  and  all  games  of 
chance  is  angling.  The  waves  make  you  dance,  all 
pictures  roll  before  you,  any  chance  can  win  the  pool, 
and  every  fishing  boat  is  a  Sanger  J  est, ''^ — B.  M. 
Briggs. 

Early  Trout  Angling. — '*  Don't  let  anyone  tell  you 
of  the  folly  of  trout  fishing  in  early  April.  It's  great 
sport,  and  if  you're  skillful  enough  to  get  a  few  of  the 
gamest  and  wisest  fish  that  swims  at  this  time  of  the 
year  your  success  will  be  complete  in  May  and  June, 
when  the  Ideal  weather  comes. " — H.  T.  Walden. 

Skill  vs.  Kill. — ''To  qualify  as  a  sportsman  in  the 
taking  of  any  kind  of  game,  a  man  must  show  much 
more  enthusiasm  in  skill  rather  than  in  the  kill, 
always  remembering  to  give  or  inflict  the  least  pain 
possible  on  the  game  taken  by  his  skill." — Wes* 
Wood. 

Rainbow  Trout  Angling. — "  I  get  harder  play  with  a 
three-pound  rainbow  trout  than  with  a  maskinonge  of 
twenty-five  pounds.  I  have  caught  only  a  few  rainbow 
trout.  The  first  one  I  ever  caught  was  three  years 
ago  in  the  Esopus  Creek  in  the  Catskills.  I  felt  some- 
what relieved  when  I  had  him  in  the  net.  He  was  the 
gamest  fish  for  his  size  I  ever  hooked,  and  I  have 
killed  ten  and  twelve  pound  salmon  on  a  trout  rod. 
The  rainbow  trout  is  first  cousin  to  the  lordly  salmon," 
— M.  J.  Doyle. 


I30  TKe  Determined  Angler 

Secret  of  Angling. — "Fishing  is  more  than  catching. 
Its  pleasures  are  the  whole  outdoors.  Appreciation 
is  the  secret  of  the  lure. '' — Theodore  MackUn. 

Limit  in  Angling. — ''It  is  very  foolish  for  Anglers, 
when  they  get  more  fishes  than  they  want,  to  even 
give  them  away;  far  better  it  would  be  for  them 
to  stop  fishing  when  they  have  caught  enough  for 
themselves,  and  give  the  fish  a  chance.'* — George 
Hartley. 

Age  of  Angling. — *'The  allurement  of  fishing  is  as 
old  as  the  granite  mountains  of  the  Andes.  Down 
through  the  ages  of  the  past,  even  from  the  day  of  the 
anthropophagi,  comes  to  us  the  fact  that  all  the  world 
rejoices  in  the  gentle  art  of  fishing.  Fishing — the  one 
word  that  opens  up  to  our  understanding  the  philo- 
sophy of  nature — is  the  fundamental  basis  of  our 
civilization.'* — David  Jones. 

Gentility  in  Angling. — ''Sportsmanship  abhors 
greed  and  all  vulgarity.  '* — H.  W.  Wack. 

Angling  Clears  the  Brain. — "When  we  are  confused 
and  harried  by  the  turmoil  of  modern  life,  our  heads 
and  our  hearts  aching  with  its  complex  problems,  its 
exigent  demands,  its  rebuffs,  and  its  bitter  disappoint- 
ments, let  us  turn  once  more  to  the  forest  and  meadow, 
the  peaceful  stream,  with  the  fieecy  clouds  or  over- 
hanging boughs  kindly  tempering  the  rays  of  the 
summer  sun;  let  us  drop  our  pens,  abandon  for  the 
nonce  our  manuscript,  our  ledgers,  or  the  stock  re- 
ports of  the  day,  and  'go  a-fishing.'*' — Willis  Boyd 
Allen. 


Ang'ling  131 

Up  and  Down  Stream. — ''I  fish  up  stream  (and  I 
think  this  best)  and  down  stream  and  across  stream — 
according  to  wind  and  time  and  weather,  etc.,  and  the 
sun.  I  have  found  I  can  get  the  larger  fish  in  upstream 
fishing;  but  there  are  pools  one  can't  get  the  flies  to — 
the  likely  places — from  below,  nor  yet  from  either  side. 
When  I  come  to  such  a  pool  I  get  above  and  cover  it 
well  by  casting  across  stream  from  me — the  sun  being 
opposite — and  let  my  flies  float  down,  drawing  them 
the  while  across  current  with  a  twitching  motion,  as 
an  insect  struggling  to  swim  across.  It  is  a  deadly 
method  if  well  done  and  gets  the  big  ones  too.  I  hold 
the  line  of  course  in  my  left  hand,  and  as  I  gently 
raise  the  rod  with  my  right,  I  take  in  line  with  my 
left,  thus  at  all  times  having  full  control  and  ready  for 
a  strike. " — Ernest  L.  Eubank. 

Fly-Fishing  First. — ''Fly-fishing  comes  first,  then 
comes  bait  casting  with  the  fly  rod;  third,  still  fishing; 
foturth,  casting  of  live  bait  with  the  short  rod  from  the 
reel,  and  last,  if  not  entirely  without  the  pale  of  true 
sportsmanship,  the  use  of  the  plug.  *' — Rayx. 

Fly  Rod  and  Bait  Rod. — ''It  takes  some  skill  to 
keep  sixty  feet  of  line  in  the  air  when  fly  casting,  and 
requires  free  space  for  the  back  cast.  It  is  fascinating 
work  and  requires  more  delicacy  in  handUng  a  fly  rod 
than  a  bait  rod.  The  fly  rod,  especially  in  Southern 
Missouri  waters,  lands  more  fish  during  the  day  than 
the  bait  rod,  but  the  latter  lands  larger  fish.  The  bait 
caster  makes  fewer  casts  on  account  of  reeling  in  the 
line  after  each  cast,  but  the  water  is  more  effectively 
covered.  One  has  to  be  a  judge  of  the  water  and 
determine  which  method  should  be  used.     In  the 


132  TKe  Determined  Angler 

northern  lakes  bait  casting  is  far  superior  in  results 
to  fly  casting.  '* — M.  J.  Brennan. 

Land  and  Water. — **  You're  natural  when  fishing, 
and  unnatural  on  shore.  Fishing  rubs  the  barnacles 
off  your  natural  self,  and  makes  your  bodyship  sail 
more  easily. '' — B.  M.  Briggs. 

First  Record  of  Angling. — '*The  first  authentic 
record  of  angling  appears  in  the  Old  Testament  of  the 
Bible,  computed  to  be  about  1500  years  before  Christ, 
where  the  Lord  asked  Job:  *  Canst  thou  take  out  a 
fish  with  the  hook?'  " — John  Ryan. 

Roman  Angling. — The  walls  of  Pompeii  are  adorned 
with  angling  scenes. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


TROUT  FLIES 


"  To  make  several  flies 
For  the  several  skies, 
That  shall  kill  in  despite  of  all  weathers.  *' 

Charles  Cotton. 

Weight  of  Flies. — ''Flies  do  not  soon  get  tired;  .  .  . 
they  are  light;  the  wind  carries  them.  An  ounce  of 
flies  was  once  weighed,  and  afterwards  counted;  and 
it  was  found  to  comprise  no  less  than  six  thousand 
two  hundred  and  sixty-eight.'* — Victor  Hugo,  The 
Toilers  of  the  Sea, 

The  Dry-Fly. — "Upon  the  curling  surface  let  it 
glide,  with  natural  motion  from  thy  hand  supplied." — 
Unknown  Author.  The  italics  in  the  word  surface 
are  ours.  The  dry  artificial  fly  must  swim  on  the 
surface,  must  fly  upstream,  must  have  no  companion 
fly,  must  keep  dry  by  saiHng  in  the  air  between  actual 
casts,  and  must  attract  the  fish  by  minutely  mimick- 
ing the  Uving  fly  both  in  the  air  and  on  (not  in)  the 
water. 

Vegetable  Flies. — Bearded  seed  of  the  wild  oat  and 
a  silvery  willow  leaf  have  been  used  successfully  as 
artificial  flies  for  brook  trout  and  black  bass. 

133 


134  THe  Determined  Angler 

To  Carry  Flies. — Do  not  use  your  large  fly-book 
when  wading.  Put  a  half  dozen  seasonable  patterns 
in  your  hatband,  and  a  dozen  more  in  a  little  book 
that  will  not  bulge  your  pocket. 

Variety  in  Flies. — You  can  never  carry  too  many 
trout  flies  on  your  trip.  Fill  your  fly-book  and  stick 
them  all  over  the  crown  of  your  hat.  Trout  do  not 
like  the  same  fly  at  all  times  any  more  than  you  are 
fond  of  feeding  on  one  sort  of  meat. 

Clumsy  Flies. — Most  trout  flies  are  too  large,  and 
they  frighten  more  trout  than  they  attract. 

A  New  Fly. — "  ...  an  altogether  original  fly, 
unheard  of,  startling,  will  often  do  great  execution  in 
an  overflshed  pool." — Henry  van  Dyke. 

The  Floating  Fly.— "The  floating  fly  seemed  to 
have  the  effect  of  arousing  the  trout  to  action  at  once. 
During  the  week  I  estimate  that  there  was  an  average 
of  ten  rises  to  the  dry-fly  to  every  one  to  the  same  fly 
wet."— Emlyn  M.  Gill. 

Fishing  the  Dry-Fly. — **The  dry-fly  is  clearly  out  of 
place  on  the  wet-fly  water  as  the  wet-fly  is  on  the  dry- 
fly  stream.  After  all,  it  is  only  in  the  style  of  deceiving 
and  hooking  fish  that  dry-fly  and  wet-fly  Anglers  .  .  . 
assuming  both  to  be  good  sportsmen  .  .  .  can  much 
differ.  In  nearly  all  other  fly-fishing  matters  they 
must  naturally  be  at  one.  It  has  already  been  said 
that  the  dry-fly  is  quite  out  of  place  in  many  trout 
streams.  The  dry-fly  streams,  though  they  have 
increased  of  late  years,  are  still  and  ever  must  be  in 


Trovit  Flies  135 

a  decided  minority.  The  dry-fly  Angler  is  not,  as  a 
rule,  a  very  early  riser.  He  can  do  nothing  without 
natural  flies,  and  in  my  experience  there  are  very  few 
duns  or  other  water-flies  out  till  nine  or  even  ten  o'clock 
in  the  morning." — ^A.  B.  Dewar,  The  Book  of  the  Dry- 
Fly. 

American  Dry-Flies. — ''Whirling  Dun,  Wickham's 
Fancy,  Pale  Evening  Dun,  Jenny  Spinner,  (Hackle 
Fly),  Willow  Fly  (Hackle  Fly),  Orange  Fish  Hawk 
(Hackle  Fly),  Olive  Dun,  Soldier  Palmer  (Hackle  Fly), 
Silver  Sedge,  Red  Spinner,  White  Miller,  Coachman, 
Black  Gnat."— Emlyn  M.  Gill,  Practical  Dry-Fly 
Fishing. 

Brazilian  Flies. — Brazilian  flies,  costing  seven  dol- 
lars a  ton,  are  used  to  feed  fishes  in  England. 

Fresh  Flies. — "When  trout  are  taking  the  fly  on  the 
surface,  and  are  not  simply  feeding  on  the  larv^  as 
they  swim  upward,  a  brand  new  fly  is  more  likely  to 
catch  a  fish  than  one  which  has  been  a  great  deal  used. 
I  always  use  May-flies  dressed  on  eyed  hooks,  have  a 
goodly  supply,  and  when  one  gets  so  wet  as  to  necessi- 
tate a  considerable  amount  of  labor  in  the  drying  of  it, 
off  it  comes,  and  is  stuck  in  my  cap  to  dry  at  its  leisure. 
Of  course  it  is  rather  wasting  to  the  cast — this  frequent 
changing  flies — and  no  little  trouble  to  those  whose 
fingers  are  all  thumbs,  and  whose  eyesight  is  becoming 
dim,  but  it  is  far  less  trouble  to  change  the  fly  than  to 
dry  it  when  thoroughly  soaked." — London  Fishing 
Gazette. 

Rocky  Mountain  Trout  Flies. — First,  Royal  Coach- 
man; second,  Gray  Hackle  with  yellow  body.    Then: 


136  THe  Determined  Angler 

Black  Gnat,  Ginger  Quill,  Cowdung,  Blue  Quill, 
Grizzly  King,  Shad  Fly,  and  Stone  Fly.  Hooks,  No. 
6  to  14. 

Early  Season  Flies. — Dark  Stone,  Codun,  Alder, 
Bowman,  Black  May,  Beauty,  Ben  Bent,  Blue  Bottle, 
Hare's  Ear. 

All-Season  Flies. — Alder,  Gray  Palmer,  Green 
Palmer,  Ginger  Palmer,  March  Brown,  Reuben  Wood, 
Professor,  White  Miller,  Coachman,  Royal  Coachman, 
Dark  Coachman,  Codun,  Scarlet  Ibis,  Brown  Palmer, 
Red  Palmer,  Grizzly  King,  Queen  of  the  Water,  King 
of  the  Water,  Brown  Hen,  Black  Gnat.  Early  in  the 
season  use  hooks  No.  6  to  8;  later,  No.  8  to  12.  Use 
the  small  patterns  on  streams,  and  the  large  patterns 
on  lakes  and  rough  waters;  and,  as  I  have  repeatedly 
suggested,  when  the  day  is  bright  and  where  the  water 
is  clear,  use  the  small  flies  of  plain  colors ;  on  dark  days 
and  in  the  evening,  use  the  large  bright  flies. 

Dyed-Feather  Flies. — ''Some  Anglers  say  no  dyed 
feathers  should  be  used  in  tying  flies,  that  they  fade 
to  a  damaging  extent.  We  have  always  found  dyed 
feathers  practicable." — London  Rod  and  Gun. 

The  Brown  Hackle. — "Fasten  red  (crimson  red) 
wool  round  a  hook,  and  fit  into  the  wool  two  feathers 
which  grow  under  a  cock's  wattles.'' — -^lian,  third 
century,  a.d.  '*Out  of  the  thousands  of  trout  that  I 
have  caught,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  over  70  per  cent, 
were  taken  with  the  Brown  Hackle. " — C.  T.  Ramsey. 
Two  hundred  Anglers,  representing  all  parts  of  the 
United   States,  contributed    fly-fishing    chapters    to 


Troxit  Flies  137 

Favorite  Flies,  Mary  Orvis  Marbury's  wonderful 
volume  on  artificial  flies  and  fly-fishing,  and  130  of 
them  declared  the  Brown  Hackle  their  favorite  pattern. 
''  I  had  supposed  that  the  Red  Hackle  was  an  imitation 
of  the  small  red  caterpillar,  but  the  veteran  Nessmuk 
affirms  that  it  resembles  nothing  below  or  above.  It  is 
his  favorite  bug,  and  that  settles  the  question." — 
H.  C.  Wilcox,  Favorite  Flies. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

CASTING    THE    FLY 

"Ah,  tired  man!     Go  find  a  spot 
Somewhere  in  solitude; 
Take  hammock,  books  and  tackle 

And  wearing  apparel  crude, 
And  live,  if  but  the  shortest  time, 

A  wild  life  in  the  wood 
A-fishing,  reading,  dreaming, 
And  you'll  declare  it  good. " 

J.  Milton  Harkins. 

Up  and  Down  Stream. — English  Anglers  wade  up- 
stream, and  some  Anglers  in  America  do  the  same. 
There  is  good  reason  in  this  manner  of  wading  on  the 
part  of  the  old  country's  Anglers,  because  where  they 
practice  it  the  water  is  quiet  and  not  altogether 
shallow.  In  America,  where  our  trout  waters  are  rapid 
and  foaming  as  they  rush  along,  it  is  not  practical  as  a 
general  rule  to  wade  upstream.  The  walking  is 
difficult,  you  become  wet,  the  trout  see  you  notwith- 
standing they  lie  face  up  stream,  your  flies  drift 
toward  you,  it  is  hard  to  keep  the  line  from  being 
slack  all  the  time,  the  flies  sink  too  often,  and  alto- 
gether you  spoil  the  chances  of  creeling  whatever  is 
takable  in  the  stream.  On  still,  barely-flowing,  deep 
waters  a  line  may  be  cast  up  or  down  stream. 

Down  Stream. — *'  There  is  much  diversity  of  opinion 
about  the  manner  of  fishing,  whether  up  or  down  the 

138 


Casting  the  Tly  139 

stream.  The  great  majority  of  Anglers,  both  in  Europe 
and  this  country,  favor  the  latter  method,  and  very 
few  the  former." — John  J.  Brown. 

Motion  of  the  Fly. — In  clear,  smooth  water  let  the 
fly  sink  a  little;  then  move  it  along  with  a  quick 
motion. 

Manner  in  Fly-Fishing. — "  The  manner  in  which  the 
flies  are  fished  distinguishes  the  fly-fisherman  from  the 
mere  fly-caster,  whether  or  no  the  fly-caster,  as  such, 
be  expert  or  otherwise.** — Samuel  G.  Camp,  The 
Fine  Art  of  Fishing. 

Fly-Casting  Practice. — '*When  the  learner  becomes 
accustomed  to  handling  his  rod,  he  must  try  to  perfect 
himself  in  two  matters  of  great  importance — accuracy 
and  delicacy.  Place  a  small  piece  of  paper  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet  away,  and  aim  at  making  the  knot  in  the 
end  of  the  line  fall  easily  and  quietly  upon  it.  Your 
efforts  will  be  aided  if  you  will  raise  the  point  of  the 
rod  a  trifle  just  as  the  forward  impulse  of  the  line  is 
spent,  and  the  line  itself  is  straightened  in  the  air  for 
an  instant  in  front.  This  is  a  novel  kind  of  target 
shooting,  but  its  usefulness  will  be  realized  when  the 
Angler  flnds  it  necessary  to  drop  his  flies  lightly  just 
over  the  head  of  some  wary  trout. " — Ripley  Hitchcock. 

The  Magic  Fly. — **  Reader,  did  you  ever  throw  the 
fly  to  tempt  the  silvery  denizen  of  the  lake  or  river  to 
his  destruction?  Have  you  watched  him,  as  it 
skimmed  like  a  living  insect  along  the  surface,  dart 
from  his  hiding-place  and  rush  upon  the  tempting 
but  deceitful  morsel?    Have  you  noticed  his  astonish- 


140  THe  Determined  Angler 

ment  when  he  found  the  hook  was  in  his  jaw?  Have 
you  watched  him  as  he  bent  your  slender  rod  'Uke  a 
reed  shaken  by  the  wind,  *  in  his  efforts  to  free  himself, 
and  then  have  you  reeled  him  to  your  hand  and  de- 
posited him  in  your  basket  as  the  spoil  of  your  right 
arm?  If  you  have  not,  leave  the  dull,  monotonous, 
everyday  things  around  you  and  try  it.*' — S.  S. 
Hammond. 

Lifelike  Fly. — Don't  simply  drag  the  fly  through 
the  water.  Move  your  wrist  gently  up  and  down; 
then^he  lure  will  look  and  act  like  a  living  insect,  not 
a  bunch  of  hair  or  feather. 

Nature-like  Fly. — "In  fly-fishing  the  lure  must 
always  be  in  motion. "  Excepting,  say  I,  the  instant 
when  it  first  drops  upon  the  pool.  I  have  caught 
many  of  my  largest  trout — sometimes  two  at  a  single 
cast — the  moment  the  fly  touched  the  water. 

Dry-Fly  Success. — ''There  are  no  insurmountable 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  becoming  a  successful  dry-fly 
Angler  that  do  not  confront  the  user  of  the  sunken^fly." 
— Emlyn  M.  Gill,  Practical  Dry-Fly  Fishing. 

Correct  Fly-Fishing  Line. — ''Nothing  in  reference 
to  fly-fishing  can  be  answered  with  such  ease  and 
confidence  as  the  question  what  line  should  be  used. 
Unquestionably  the  enameled  water-proofed  line, 
and  no  other. " — Henry  P.  Wells. 

Sunken  Fly. — "Every  bass  fly -fisherman  knows 
that  to  let  his  flies  sink  for  a  depth  of  six  or  eight  inches 
is  alluring.     Under  certain  conditions,   when  after 


Casting'  tKe  T\y  141 

trout,  to  let  the  flies  descend  for  a  depth  of  two  feet 
before  retrieving,  is  to  tempt  some  sleepy  old  monster 
to  attack/'— 0.  W.  Smith. 

The  Strike. — "The  moment  the  trout  seizes  the 
artificial  fly,  it  is  as  far  in  his  mouth  as  it  ever  will  be; 
therefore,  you  cannot  strike  too  quickly  after  you 
have  seen  or  felt  the  trout.  '* — D.  W.  Cross. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

TACKLE  TALKS 

"Slight  lines  of  hair  surprise  the  finny  prey. 


Pope. 


"  See  that  all  things  be  right 
For  'tis  a  very  spite 
To  want  tools,  when  a  man  goes  afishing. " 

Charles  Cotton. 

To  Extract  Hooks. — Cut  the  snell  free  and  push  the 
hook  on  through,  depressing  the  upper  end  so  as  to 
bring  the  point  out  as  near  as  possible  to  where  it 
went  in.    Don't  try  to  pull  the  hook  back. 

Knots  in  Rodwood. — Don't  switch  a  light  rod  side- 
ways. The  maker  may  have  purposely  put  a  knot  to 
one  side,  and  this  would  cause  the  rod  to  snap. 

Function  of  the  Rod. — "The  essential  and  most 
important  office  of  a  rod  is  that  which  is  exhibited 
after  the  fish  is  hooked  ...  in  other  words,  in  the 
playing  and  landing  of  the  fish.  In  practical  angling 
the  act  of  casting,  either  with  fly  or  bait,  is  prelimi- 
nary and  subordinate  to  the  real  uses  of  the  rod.  The 
poorest  fly-rod  made  will  cast  a  fly  thirty  or  forty 
feet,  which  is  about  as  far  as  called  for  in  ordinary 
angling.     But  it  is  the  continuous  spring  and  yielding 

142 


Tackle  Talks  143 

resistance  of  the  bent  rod,  constantly  maintained,  that 
not  only  tires  out  the  fish,  but  protects  the  weak  snell 
or  leader  from  breakage,  and  prevents  a  weak  hold  of 
the  hook  from  giving  way;  and  this  is  the  proper 
function  of  the  rod.'* — James  A.  Henshall,  Favorite 
Fish  and  Fishing, 

Silkworm  Gut. — '*The  features  to  be  sought  are 
good  color,  a  hard,  wiry  texture,  roundness,  even 
diameter  from  end  to  end,  and  length.  From  these  are 
to  be  inferred  the  strength  and  wearing  quality  of  the 
gut,  which  are  what  we  wish  to  estimate.  From  the 
color  we  infer  whether  the  gut  is  fresh  or  stale,  its 
probable  strength  in  relation  to  its  thickness,  and,  in 
part,  its  wearing  quality.  In  all  these  respects  fresh 
gut  is  superior  to  old  gut  of  original  equal  quality. 
The  color  can  best  be  judged  from  the  fuzzy  end  of  the 
hank,  and  should  be  clear  and  glassy,  and  by  no  means 
dull  or  yellowish.  The  wearing  quality  of  the  gut 
may  be  judged  partly  by  its  color,  partly  by  its 
springiness  when  bent  and  released,  and  also  by  its 
hardness.  It  should  feel  like  wire." — Henry  P. 
Wells,  Fly 'Rods  and  Fly-Tackle. 

Ronalds'  Rod. — "The  best  materials  are  ash  for  the 
stock,  lancewood  for  the  middle,  and  bamboo  for  the 
tip."— Alfred  Ronalds  (1836). 

South's  Rod. — Theophilus  South,  in  his  Fly  Fish- 
er's Text  Book  (London,  1845),  prefers  ash  to  wil- 
low for  butts,  hickory  for  middle  joints,  and 
favors  tips  made  from  lancewood,  cane,  and  whale- 
bone, spliced  together — four  and  even  five  pieces 
in  a  tip. 


144  TKe  Determined  Angler 

Lightest  Rod. — Benjamin  S.  Whitehead  fly-fishes 
with  a  gold-and-ivory-mounted  spHt  bamboo  rod 
weighing  one  and  eleven  sixteenths  ounces. 

Tapered  Line. — '*The  line  for  dry-fly  fishing  should 
be  either  single-tapered  or  double-tapered;  the  fine 
end  of  the  taper  will  make  more  of  an  inconspicuous 
connection  with  the  leader  and  with  a  tapered  line 
casting  ability  is  doubled." — Robert  Page  Lincoln. 

Knife  and  Shears. — A  small  pair  of  scissors  attached 
to  a  string  and  fastened  to  the  Angler*s  coat  are  useful 
companions  along  the  stream.  They  are  more  easily 
operated  than  a  knife;  they  save  time,  and  while  you 
may  do  with  them  nearly  all  that  can  be  done  with  a 
knife,  they  will  render  a  service  that  cannot  be  ob- 
tained from  the  single  blade.  A  knife  should  always 
be  carried,  nevertheless,  and  the  proper  one  for  the 
trout  Angler  is  that  newly  invented  thing  which 
requires  no  finger-nail  work  and  which  is  made  ready 
for  service  by  a  mere  pressure  of  the  thumb  on  the 
top  of  the  handle. 

Trouting  Outfit. — Here's  a  plain,  practical,  reason- 
able-price outfit  with  no  unnecessary  items:  A  four- 
ounce  lancewood  fly-rod,  a  common  rubber  click  reel 
to  hold  twenty-five  yards  of  fine  water-proof  silk  line, 
a  seventy-five  cent  cane  landing-net,  small  and  with 
no  metal  on  it,  a  seventy-five  cent  creel,  a  dozen  of  the 
best  made  and  highest-priced  assorted  trout-fiies,  a 
pair  of  waders,  and  a  dollar's  worth  of  the  finest  and 
best  made  silk  gut  leaders. 

Rod  Dressing. — To  whip  rings  or  guides  on  the  rod 
use  silk  twist,  drawing  the  final  end  through  a  few 


TacKle  TalKs  145 

coils  of  the  whipping  by  means  of  a  loose  loop.  To 
revarnish,  wipe  off  all  grease  stains,  and  dress  lightly 
down  with  the  best  copal.  To  reblacken  brasses,  mix 
a  little  lampblack  with  spirit  varnish.  Dress  once 
or  twice  and  let  the  dressing  thoroughly  dry  before 
using  the  copal 

Buy  your  Tackle. — The  old  Anglers  tied  their  flies 
themselves,  and,  in  fact,  made  all  their  rods  and  tackle, 
save,  perhaps,  lines.  To-day  few  Anglers  think  of 
tying  flies  or  preparing  any  tackle,  owing  to  the 
expertness  and  moderate  terms  on  the  part  of  dealers. 
It  is  much  cheaper  to  buy  tackle  outright,  as  it  is  to 
buy  gun  shells  ready  loaded. 

To  Remove  a  Ferrule. — Hold  it  over  the  flame  of  a 
spirit  lamp  or  any  flame  until  the  cement  is  softened. 
If  it  has  been  pinned  on,  take  a  large  needle,  break  it 
off  squarely,  put  it  on  the  pin,  and  strike  just  hard 
enough  to  set  the  pin  below  the  ferrule,  then  warm  and 
remove. 

The  Joints. — If  your  rod  joints  go  together  harshly 
or  do  not  come  apart  with  ease,  oil  them  lightly.  See 
that  no  sand  or  any  dirt  gets  in  the  ferrules.  To  take 
the  joints  apart  easily  when  they  are  tightly  set,  gently 
warm  the  metal. 

Rubber  Bands. — Little  rubber  bands  are  practical 
items  of  a  sportsman's  outfit.  One  real  service  they 
render  is  in  holding  the  fly-rod  joints  together  when 
you  travel  through  the  woods  after  your  day's  fishing. 

The  Rod  as  a  Measure. — "The  size  of  a  fish  can  be 
found  out  very  easily,  simply  by  having  the  butt  of 


146  TKe  Determined  Angler 

the  fishing  rod  marked  off  in  inches  up  to  two  feet. " — 
John  Koltzan. 

Position  of  the  Reel. — The  reel  of  a  bait-rod  should 
be  on  the  top  side  of  the  rod,  in  front  of  the  handle; 
that  of  a  fly-rod,  on  the  under  side  below  the  handle. 

Cork  Handle. — To  avoid  blisters  on  the  hand,  have 
the  handle  of  your  rod  covered  with  cork  instead  of 
cane,  twine,  or  rubber.  It  will  prevent  the  hand  from 
slipping,  is  pleasant  to  the  touch,  and  very  Hght  in 
weight. 

Smooth  Ferrules. — Before  jointing  your  rod,  oil 
the  male  ferrules  with  vaseline,  or  by  rubbing  them  on 
the  back  of  your  neck.  This  will  prevent  the  joints 
from  becoming  tight  after  the  day's  sport. 

Be  Particular. — The  finer  the  tackle  the  fairer  the 
sport. 

Care  of  the  Rod. — See  that  your  rod-case  is  thor- 
oughly dry  before  you  put  your  rod  in  it,  and  always 
tie  the  case-strings  loosely  or  you  will  have  bent  tips 
and  joints. 

Tackle  Tells. — '*The  quality  of  gameness  in  a  fish  is 
best  determined  by  the  character  of  the  tackle  used. 
A  brook  trout  on  a  striped  bass  rod,  or  a  black  bass  on 
a  tarpon  rod,  could  not,  in  either  case,  exhibit  its 
characteristic  gameness,  or  afford  any  sport  to  the 
Angler.  Excellent  sport  with  small  fishes,  however,  is 
now  rendered  possible  owing  to  the  advent  of  the  very 
light  trout  rod.  It  should  not  be  considered  beneath 
the  dignity  of  an  Angler  to  cast  the  fly  for  a  rock  bass,  a 
blue-gill,  or  a  croppie,  with  a  three-ounce  rod.     Cer- 


TacKle  TalKs  147 

tainly  it  is  just  as  sportsmanlike  as  to  fish  for  six-inch 
brook  trout  in  a  meadow  brook  or  a  mountain  rill/* — 
James  A.  Henshall. 

Rust  Preventive. — Use  animal  oil  free  of  salt  on  any 
metal — steel,  iron,  brass,  German  silver,  etc.  Vaseline 
may  be  used  on  brass  and  German  silver;  mercurial 
ointment  on  steel  and  iron.  Don't  use  ordinary  vege- 
table oil. 

-  Telescopic  Reel. — An  English  reel,  the  telescope 
winch,  can  be  expanded  to  carry  a  double  quantity  of 
line  or  less  at  will.  By  its  means  a  trout  reel  becomes  a 
salmon  reel  or  bass  reel  or  vice  versa  as  you  please. 

Fine  Tackle. — '*His  tackle  for  bricht,  airless  days 
is  o'  gossamere;  and  at  a  wee  distance  aff  you  think 
he's  fishin'  without  ony  line  ava. " — The  Ettrick 
Shepherd. 

\         Dressing    for    Silk    Wrappings. — Cobbler's    wax 
dissolved  in  spirits  of  wine.    Paint  it  on  with  a  feather. 

Line  Dressing. — Deer's  fat  solidifies  at  a  higher 
temperature  than  most  fats  and  will  cling  well. 

Black  Leader  and  Snell. — "For  trout,  use  a  black 
leader  and  have  your  hooks  snelled  with  black  gut. " — 
"Country  Pumpkin." 

Thin  Line. — "The  thinner  the  line  I  usethe  more 
fish  I  catch. " — A.  Hamilton,  Jr. 

Cocoon  Lines. — The  Japanese  now  make  almost 
invisible  fishing  lines  from  cocoons.  The  silk  threads 
are  boiled  in  oil  and  glue  and  calendered  under  heavy 


148  THe  Determined  Angler 

pressure.      The  fish  cannot  see  these  lines,  and  they 
are  effective  against  the  gamest'species.^^ 

Enameled  Line. — '*In  casting  from  the  reel  I  use 
a  soft  silk  line,  but  I  prefer  to  strip  cast.  In  strip 
casting  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  use  a  good  en- 
ameled line.  The  reason  I  prefer  strip  casting  is  that 
a  long,  slender  rod  can  be  used.  No  other  line  than  an 
enameled  one  can  be  stripped  into  the  bottom  of  the 
boat  and  permitted  to  run  out  rapidly  without 
snarling. '' — *'  Greenhorn.  '* 

Making  a  Camp  Rod. — Surgeon's  plaster,  in  tin 
spools,  or  electrician*s  adhesive  tape,  are  serviceable 
in  many  ways  in  camp.  You  can  even  build  a  make- 
shift casting  rod  if  youVe  forgotten  or  lost  the  real 
article.  Fasten  the  reel  to  a  stiff  section  of  any  fishing 
rod  or  a  straight  light-weight  tree  switch  with  the  tape. 
Screw  eyes  or  small  staples  will  answer  for  the  running 
guides,  but  finer  guides  and  a  cleaner-looking  tip 
guide  may  be  made  with  fine  wire  and  the  tape. 

Tackle  and  Time. — Correct  fishing  tackle  is  as 
necessary  in  the  hands  of  the  tyro  as  with  the 
practical  Angler,  but  the  beginner  mustn't  expect 
tackle,  however  appropriate,  to  be  all  that  is  required 
to  make  toward  perfection  in  angling;  experience  and 
practice  are  equally  important.  As  an  apprentice  in 
carpentry  who  may  have  all  the  tools  of  his  master 
still  needs  experience  and  actual  practice,  so  the  young 
Angler  fully  equipped  with  good  tackle  must  serve 
an  apprenticeship  on  the  waters. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  angler's  kitchen 

*'  The  reputation  that  trout  enjoy  as  a  food-fish  is  partly  due  to 
the  fact  that  they  are  usually  cooked  over  an  open  fire.  .  .  . 
The  real  reason  why  food  cooked  over  an  open  fire  tastes  so  good 
to  us  is  because  we  are  really  hungry  when  we  get  it.  ** — Henry 
VAN    Dyke. 

"Moses,  the  friend  of  God — Lev.  xi.,  9,  Deut.  xiv.,  9, — 
appointed  fish  to  be  the  chief  diet  for  the  best  commonwealth 
that  ever  yet  was.  The  mightiest  feasts  have  been  of  fish." 
— Walton. 

"...  and  fish  the  last 
Food  was  that  He  on  earth  did  taste.*' 

W.  Basse. 

"If  you  eat  your  kind,  we  will  eat  you.'* — Benj.  Franklin. 

Catching  vs.  Cooking. — ''I  care  little  whether  I 
catch  a  fish  on  a  No.  6  or  a  No.  5  hook,  or  whether  I 
use  a  $3  reel'or  a  $2.99  one.  Whether  I  use  bay  leaves, 
or  cloves,  or  mushrooms,  or  tomato  sauce,  or  tartar 
sauce  in  preparing  my  fish  is  more  important.  Game 
is  improved  by  hanging  for  a  while,  but  fish  should 
be  eaten  as  soon  as  possible  after  being  caught.  *' — 
*'  Piscator. '' 

Fish  as  Food. — The  great  variety  of  flavors  in  fish 
food  makes  an  ichthyological  diet  more  palatable  than 

149 


150  THe  Determined  Angler 

quadruped  meat,  and  therefore  more  healthful  be- 
cause only  that  which  is  eaten  with  a  relish  is  digest- 
ible and  nourishing. 

Forest  Fish  Sauce. — Use  a  wild  rose  berry  to  make  a 
sauce  for  fish  food  in  camp. 

Carp. — The  carp,  celebrated  in  ancient  song  and 
story  as  the  meat  of  kings,  is  as  savory  as  the  trout  or 
any  other  fish  species  if  cooked  and  served  correctly. 

Preserving  Fish. — Don't  pack  fish  in  wet  grass  or 
anything  damp.    Use  dry  straw. 

t 

Frozen  Fish. — Don't  freeze  fish  unless  you  keep  it 
frozen  until  quite  ready  for  the  fire,  as  it  spoils  soon 
after  thawing. 

Scaling  Fish. — Use  an  ordinary  horse  currycomb. 


CHAPTER  XXV  . 

CARE  AND  BREEDING  OF  TROUT 

"The  water,  more  productive  than  the  earth,  Nature's  store- 
house, in  which  she  locks  up  her  wonders,  is  the  eldest  daughter 
of  the  creation,  the  element  upon  which  the  spirit  of  God  did  first 
move." — IzAAK  Walton. 

Transporting  Trout. — To  bring  your  fish  home, 
first  clean  them  carefully,  taking  pains  to  remove  that 
little  dark  blood  streak  along  the  backbone.  Then, 
after  wiping  them  dry,  pack  them  in  ferns,  separately, 
and  free  from  ice.  Never  send  your  fish  home  by 
express;  take  them  with  you.  A  box  cannot  be 
checked  on  the  train.  Use  an  old  packing  trunk.  In 
this  you  can  also  transport  your  heavy  outfit — wading 
boots,  oilskins,  landing-net,  etc. 

Trout  in  Captivity. — Trout  in  artificial  ponds 
should  be  fed  three  or  four  times  a  week  in  the  winter 
time  during  the  very  warmest  part  of  the  day. 
There  is  no  natural  food  in  artificial  ponds,  and  feed- 
ing is  necessary  in  order  to  keep  the  big  fish  from 
eating  their  small  companions.  In  natural  trout 
ponds  fed  by  springs  so  much  care  need  not  be  exer- 
cised in  winter.  Air  holes  need  not  be  cut  in  any  ice 
that  may  form,  as  the  springs  aflprd  a  proper  tempera- 
ture,' and  but  little  food,  if  any,  need  be  given  the 
fish. 

«5r 


152  XKe  Determined  Angler 

Killing  the  Trout. — Kill  your  trout  the  instant  they 
are  landed;  don't  let  them  suffer  slow  death.  The 
game  deserves  humane  treatment,  and  the  meat 
tastes  better  by  quick  killing. 

Trout  Destroyers. — Eels  are  ruinous  to  trout. 
They  eat  trout  spawn,  and  they  should  be  removed 
from  all  trout  waters. 

Live  Frozen  Trout. — Trout  packed  in  ice  for  several 
days  and  carried  forty  miles  by  stagecoach  and  two 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  by  railway  (Feb.,  1 91 4)  from 
the  State  of  Washington  to  Montana,  says  the  Lewis- 
ton  Democrat  of  Butte,  Montana,  came  to  life  and 
swam  spryly  when  placed  in  a  tank  of  water  at  the 
end  of  their  journey — Hennessy*s  meat  store  at  Butte. 

Water  Plants. — Aquatic  plants,  besides  affording 
protection  and  shade  to  the  fishes,  supply  oxygen  to 
the  water. 

Growth  of  Trout. — "Mr.  Tomkin  of  Polgaron  put 
some  small  river  trout,  2 3^  inches  in  length,  into  a 
newly  made  pond.  He  took  some  of  them  out  the 
second  year,  above  twelve  inches  in  length;  the  third 
year,  he  took  one  out  of  sixteen  inches  in  length;  and 
the  fourth  year,  one  of  twenty-five  inches  in  length: 
this  was  in  1734.*' — Carew's  Survey  of  Cornwall, 

Ducks  Eat  Trout.— Arthur  A.  Woodford  and  S.  W. 
Eddy,  of  Avon,  Conn.,  say  that  ducks  eat  trout  and 
destroy  the  trout's  breeding  places  by  digging  in  the 
banks  along  the  ponds  and  streams. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE  angler's  clothing  AND   FOOTWEAR 

And  let  your  garments  russet  be  or  gray, 
Of  colour  darke,  and  hardest  to  descry. 

Pleasures  of  Angling, 

Hobnail  Footwear. — Most  any  boot  or  shoe  can 
be  used  for  wading  the  trout  streams,  but  a  special 
selection  is  always  best  for  every  sort  of  purpose. 
Rubber,  canvas,  and  leather  are  employed  in  the 
making  of  the  fisherman's  footwear.  The  hobnail 
heel-and-sole  pattern  is  the  correct  article  for  use  in 
swift-running  water.  The  hobnail  recommended 
above  all  others  is  the  common,  cheap  soft-iron  hob- 
nail with  corrugated  head;  carry  a  package  in  your 
tackle  box. 

Repairing  Waders. — Patch  holes  in  rubber  boots 
and  rubber  stockings,  etc.,  by  covering  the  holes  with 
thin  sheet  rubber,  cementing  this  with  a  mixture  of 
black  rubber  dissolved  in  spirits  of  turpentine. 

Drying  Rubber  Boots. — Fill  'em  full  of  hot  bran. 

Clothing. — Sack  coats,  heavy  trousers,  a  stout  vest, 
all  with  plenty  of  large  pockets.  In  color  the  garments 
should  be  gray,  drab,  or  brown. 

153 


154  THe  Determined  Angler 

Hat. — A  soft  felt  of  gray  shade.  ^ 

Boots  and  Shoes. — Brown  leather. 

Waders. — Leather  shoes  with  holes  in  the  sides  or 
canvas  shoes  for  summer.  Rubber  boots  or  wading 
trousers  for  cold  weather. 

Woolen  and  Rubber  Clothing. — Good  quality 
woolen  will  shed  rain  for  hours.  Wear  rubber  outer 
garments  in  a  wet  brushy  trail. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


LITTLE  CASTS 


The  Fingerling  Fisher. — It  is  sad  to  see  a  man  with 
his  creel  full  of  trout  each  not  over  the  size  of  a  lady's 
penknife.  This  character  has  a  photograph  made  of 
himself  with  the  fingerUngs  held  in  front  of  him  so  as 
to  niake  them  appear  of  legal  size;  this  he  sends  to 
friends  in  the  city  with  glowing  accounts  of  his  catch 
of  "a  hundred  speckled  beauties  in  one  day. " 

Tent  Water-proofing. — Sugar  of  lead  and  alum. 

Woodcraft. — A  good,  simple  way  to  find  a  road  or 
dwelling,  if  you  are  lost  in  the  woods,  is  to  follow  down 
a  stream. 

Destroying  the  Streams. — Discourage  the  indis- 
criminate cutting  down  of  trees.  The  destruction  of 
forest  land  means  the  drying  up  of  trout  waters  and 
the  waste  of  drinking  water. 

The  Bungler. — Bragging  of  ungentle  catches,  un- 
truths about  the  size  of  a  specimen,  and  non-ich- 
thyological  nonsense  about  the  mystery  of  a  species 
— unnatural  history  such  as  cheap  fiction  writers  in- 
dulge in — ^by  bungling  would-be  fishermen  annoy  the 
practical  man  and  puzzle  the  earnest  tyro.  The  record 
of  honest  sport  is  entertaining  and  instructive. 

155 


156  THe  Determined  Angler 

Discrimination. — Do  not  worry  if  the  fish  are  small 
so  long  as  they  are  of  legal  size;  reduce  your  tackle. 
A  vest-pocket  watch  keeps  just  as  good  time  as  a  town- 
hall  clock. 

Sportsmanship. — Chivalry  to  his  companion  and 
humane  treatment  to  the  game  he  pursues  are  the 
Angler's  axioms. 

Giving  Fishes  to  Neighbors. — Don't  give  your 
neighbors  part  of  your  catch.  They  won't  appreciate 
it.  They'll  throw  them  away  in  most  cases.  If  they 
cook  and  eat  them  they  suffer  the  belief  that  they  are 
doing  you  a  favor.  Most  recipients  of  fishes  think  the 
specimens  too  small,  or  that  they  have  too  many  bones, 
or  that  they  are  too  thin,  too  tough,  too  hard  to  scale, 
etc.  They'd  rather  have  a  bought-and-paid-for  cold- 
storage  cod  of  ten  pounds  than  a  freshly  caught  brook 
trout  presented  by  an  Angler  friend. 

Not  All  of  Fishing  to  Fish. — ''The  fisherman  whose 
catching  of  many  fish  causes  him  to  forget  his  sur- 
roundings, blinds  his  eyes  to  the  beauties  of  Nature, 
and  deadens  his  ears  to  the  music  of  the  wild,  is  no 
Angler."— O.W.  Smith. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

BORROWED  LINES 

**0h  I  could  wish  the  lord  to  say 
That  all  the  twelve  months 
Should  be  May." 

George  Borrow. 

"I  borrow  no  man's  tackle. " — "Frank  Forester." 

Nature. — "Solitude  has  its  charm  and  its  reward 
and  Nature  offers  to  mankind  the  proper  blessings, 
be  they  indulged  in  with  care  and  consideration.  The 
mind  that  has  been  oppressed  by  following  civiliza- 
tion's rut  will  find  ample  comfort  in  the  solitude  given 
man  by  Nature. " — R.  P.  L.,  The  Sportsmen's  Review. 

Save  the  Fishes. — "We  who  love  wild  life  and  long 
ago  abandoned  the  many  instruments  of  extermina- 
tion and  who  have  come  to  a  more  considerate  mode  of 
recreation  should  do  all  in  our  power  to  discourage  its 
destruction  and  to  encourage  the  propagation  of  the 
wild  life  which  has  been  so  generously  and  graciously 
given  us  by  our  Creator.  Only  extremists  insist  on 
terrible  slaughter  of  fishes,  birds,  and  quadrupeds.'* — 
E.  M.  Hermann. 

"Improvement." — "No  building  enterprise,  no 
*  betterment'  ever  spares  a  tree.    Insects  and  lack  of 

157 


158  TKe  Determined  Angler 

care  kill  what  *  improvement'  leaves." — New  York 
Evening  World,  Aug.  18,  1914. 

Jesus  the  Fisherman. — Had  not  the  Saviour  of 
Gennesaret  understood  fishermen's  signs,  such  as  the 
riff  on  the  water,  the  schooUng  of^the  fishes,  the  hover- 
ing gulls,  there  would  have  been  no  miraculous  catch 
of  fishes." — Charles  Hallock. 

Society  where  None  Intrudes. — "I  had  pined  so 
much,  in  the  dust  and  heat  of  the  great  town,  for  trees 
and  fields,  and  running  waters,  and  the  sounds  of 
country  life,  and  the  air  of  country  winds,  that  never 
more  could  I  grow  weary  of  these  soft  enjoyments. " — 
Blackmore,  Lorna  Doone. 

The  Call  of  the  Wild. — '*  Lying  hidden  away  In  the 
back  of  the  brain  is  the  primitive  longing  for  adven- 
ture and  the  tingle  of  the  nerves  that  awaits  it.  Under 
the  veneer  of  what  is  called  civilization  lie  the  racial 
and  elemental  passions,  just  as  Mother  Earth  lies 
beneath  the  asphalted  streets  of  the  city." — ^Adele  M. 
Ballard. 

Gold  Fishing. — '*When  all  green  places  have  been 
destroyed  in  the  builder's  lust  of  gain;  when  all  the 
lands  are  but  bricks  and  piles  of  wood  and  iron;  when 
there  is  no  moisture  anywhere  and  no  rain  ever  falls; 
when  the  sky  is  a  vault  of  smoke  and  all  the  rivers  reek 
with  poison;  when  forest  and  stream,  the  moor  and 
meadow  and  all  the  old  green  wayside  beauty  are 
things  vanished  and  forgotten;  when  every  gentle, 
timid  thing  of  brake  and  bush,  of  air  and  water,  has 
been  killed  because  it  robbed  them  of  a  berry  or  a 


Dorro-wed  Lines  159 

fruit;  when  the  earth  is  one  vast  city,  whose  young 
children  behold  neither  the  green  of  the  field  nor  the 
blue  of  the  sky,  and  hear  no  song  but  the  hiss  of  the 
steam,  and  know  no  music  but  the  roar  of  the  furnace; 
when  the  old  sweet  silence  of  the  countryside,  and  the 
old  sweet  sounds  of  waking  birds,  and  the  old  sweet 
fall  of  summer  showers,  and  the  grace  of  a  hedgerow 
bough,  and  the  glow  of  the  purple  heather,  and  the 
note  of  the  cuckoo  and  cushat,  and  the  freedom  of 
waste  and  of  woodland  and  all  things  are  dead  and  re- 
membered of  no  man ;  then  the  world,  like  the  Eastern 
king,  will  perish  miserably  of  famine  and  of  drought, 
with  gold  in  its  stiffened  hands,  and  gold  in  its  withered 
lips  and  gold  everywhere;  gold  that  the  people  can 
neither  eat  nor  drink,  gold  that  cares  nothing  for  them, 
but  mocks  them  horribly ;  gold  for  which  their  fathers 
sold  peace,  and  health,  and  holiness,  and  beauty;  gold 
that  is  one  vast  grave." — Ouida. 

Heaven. — "  My  heart  is  fixed  firm  and  stable  in  the 
belief  that  ultimately  the  sunshine  and  the  summer, 
the  flowers  and  the  azure  sky,  shall  become,  as  it  were, 
interwoven  into  man's  existence.  He  shall  take  from 
all  their  beauty  and  enjoy  their  glory." — Richard 
Jefferies,  The  Life  of  the  Fields, 

Modern  Savagery. — '*  Civilization  is  a  nervous 
disease. " — Clarence  King. 

Humanity. — "Reading  and  writing  are  not  educa- 
tional, unless  they  make  us  feel  kindly  towards  all 
creatures. " — Ruskin. 

Walton's  Depth. — *'In  Walton's  angling  works  a 
child  may  wade  and  a  giant  swim. " — ^John  Ryan. 


"I  shall  stay  .  .  .  [the  reader]  no  longer  than  to  wish  him  a 
rainy  evening  to  read  this  .  .  .  Discourse;  and  that,  if  he  be  an 
honest  Angler,  the  East  wind  may  never  blow  when  he  goes 
a-Fishing." — Izaak  Walton,  The  Compleat  Angler,  1653. 


161 


APPRECIATIONS ; 


"Princeton,  May  30,  1900- 
"The    Determined   Angler  .  , 
the  most  pleasantly  written,  the 
most  sensible  and  practical  and 
instructive  volume  I  have  ever 
seen  of  its  kind.' 


'^ ^'^.<r-~. 


The  Art  of  Angling. — 
.  .  .  a  book  on  the  art  of  angling, 
with  a  hearty  indorsement  from 
the  most  famous  of  latter-day 
fishermen,  former  President 
Grover  Cleveland.  It  fully 
deserves  this  indorsement. — 
New  York  Her  aid ,  September  22, 
1900. 

The  Trout  and  the  Whale. 
—  ...  rare  sympathy  and 
genuine  knowledge.  Mr.  Brad- 
ford undoubtedly  knows, 
did  his  sainted  forerunner,  that 
"there  are  fish,  as  namely  the 
whale,  three  times  as  big  as  the 
mighty  elephant,  that  is  so  fierce 
in  battle, "  yet  a  single  salve- 
liner  fontinalis  of  "just  a  little 
over  two  pounds  and  a  quarter" 
is  the  single  luxury  he  allows 
himself.  Mr.  Bradford's  deal- 
ings are  with  those  sophisticated 
denizens  of  much-fished  streams, 
that  have  to  be  approached  with 
the  finesse  of  a  diplomat  and 
handled  with  the  swift  skill  of  a 
fencing  master.  In  all  that 
pertains  to  this  difficult  and 
studious  art  one  feels  that  Mr. 
Bradford  is  an  adept,  and  that  the 
graceful,  commendatory  letter 
from  former  President  Cleveland 
is  amply  merited. — New  York 
Evening  Telegram,  September 
8,  1900. 

Practical. — Practical     ad- 
vice.— New  York  Sun. 

Angling  Converts. — There 
is  always  a  real  charm  about 
what  is  written  on  the  subject  of 
fishing,  by  real  disciples  of  old 
Izaak  Walton,  and  the  reason 
may  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
the  spirit  of  the  greatest  of 
anglers  has  come  upon  them. 
The  Determined  Angler  is  no 
exception  to  the  rule.  It  is 
good  reading,  full  of  wisdom  and 
instruction.  And  while  it  will 
prove  very  useful  to  the  beginner 


and  even  the  veteran,  it  is  also 
calculated  to  make  many  con- 
verts to  the  rod  and  line.  The 
book  is  full  of  wise  counsel  and 
information. — New  York  Even- 
ing Sun,  September  8,  1900. 

For  Fair  Fishermen. — Ap- 
peals to  those  who  fish  fair.  . 
.  .  .  Charles  ^  Bradford,  the 
modern  American  authority  on 
angling. — New  York  Press. 

For  Gentle  Readers. — 
Much  good  advice  and  very 
pleasant  entertainment  for  any 
gentle  reader. — New  York  Ob- 
server. 

Summer  and  Winter. — Pleas 
ant  reading,  whether  by  the 
winter  fireside  or  the  shaded 
banks  of  summet. — New  York 
Evening  Post. 

Angling  Experience. — Mr. 
Bradford  is  no  novice  in  this  line 
of  literature, — New  York  Ath 
letic  Club  Journal. 

Angling  Philosophy. — 
Breathes  the  very  essence  of 
philosophy;  the  result  of  much 
experience.  —  Brooklyn  {N.  Y.) 
Eagle. 

Waltonian  Spirit.  —  Per- 
vaded by  the  spirit  of  Izaak 
Walton.— r/id  Outlook. 

The  Gentle  Trout. — The 
author  is  an  enthusiastic  devotee 
of  the  sport  [angling],  upon 
which  he  writes  with  a  con- 
tagious enthusiasm  ...  an  angler 
of  very  positive  convictions;  he 
has  a  fixed  aversion  to  fishing 
with  the  scarlet  ibis,  and  con- 
fesses to  a  personal  preference 
to  sober  colors  in  flies  for  all 
seasons  and  on  all  waters.  Above 
all,  he  insists  upon  the  use  of 
the  most  scientific  methods, 
since  "a  trout  is  a  gentleman, 
and  should  be  treated  as  such 
and  lured  with  only  delicate  and 
humane  weapons."  A  fac 
simile  of  a  letter  of  warm  com- 
mendation from  ex-President 
Cleveland  serves  as  frontispiece 
to  this  agreeable  volume  which 
is  attractively  printed. — New 
York  Commercial  Advertiser, 
September  13,  1900. 

The  Gentle  Art. — A  gentle 
exponent  of  a  gentle  art. — Denver 
(Colo.)  Republican. 


APPRECIATIONS ; 


Wild  Brook  Trout. — The 
announcement  of  a  new  book 
on  fishing  interests  a  class  of  the 
community,  especially  those 
confined  to  the  cities,  which  is 
increasing  year  by  year.  This 
work  depicts  a  trout  fisherman's 
paradise.  It  is  from  the  same 
graphic  pen  as  The  Wildfowlers, 
and  divulges  many  a  secret  of 
the  fisherman's  craft.  One  may 
learn  from  its  pages  where  a 
gentle  creel  of  real  wild  brook 
trout  may  be  made  in  a  rnorn 
ing's  pleasant  angling,  "in  a 
free  and  comparatively  virgin 
gameland — a  wild  and  naturally 
beautiful  country,  embracing 
all  the  charms  of  scenic  splendor 
for  which  the  American  brook 
trout  regions  are  famous, "and 
its  pages  contain  an  abundance 
of  practical  detail  concerning 
tackle  and  methods  of  casting 
the  fly,  and  playing  and  landing 
the  game  ...  it  makes  a  nota- 
ble addition  to  the  sportsman's 
library. — New  York  Home  Jour- 
nal, May  10,  1900. 

The  Angler's  Art. — Mr, 
Bradford  gives  eminently  prac- 
tical hints  on  the  angler's  art.— 
Salt  Lake  City  {Utah)  Telegram 

A  Study  of  Fishing. — The 
advice  comes  from  one  who  has 
learned  many  things  about 
fishing. — Utica  {N.Y.)  Press. 

Comprehensive  Angling. 
One  of  the  most  comprehensive 
bits  of  angling  literature  we 
have  had  for  many  a  long  year, 
and  thoroughly  deserves  the 
generous  praise  it  has  received 
.  .  .  the  most  delightful  fishing 
book  of  this  generation — The 
A  mateur  Sportsman. 

The  Angler's  Library. — 
Deserves  a  place  in  the  library 
of  every  fly-fisherman. — The 
Sportsman's  Magazine. 

A  Fisher  of  Men. — Mr. 
Bradford  may  well  be  proud 
of  this  tribute,  for  Mr.  Cleveland 
is  himself  a  determined  angler 
and  an  experienced  fisher  of 
men. — Spirit  of  the  Times. 

Secrets  of  the  Fish. — What 
he    has    to    tell    of    the    secrets 
known  only  to  the  fish,  himself, 
and  a  few  others  is  marvelous. 
Montreal  (Canada)  Gazette. 


Philosophy  and  Fishing. 
With  this  kind  of  man  philosophy 
and  fishing  mix  well. — Rochester 
{N.  Y.)  Herald. 

Quality,  not  Quantity. — 
Mr.  Bradford  writes  for  those 
who  see  more  in  the  trip  than 
the  frying-pan. — Savannah  {Ga.) 
News. 

Walton's      Follower.  —  A 
true  disciple  of  Izaak  Walton. 
London  (Eng.)  Post. 

Angling  Enthusiasm.  —  An 
accomplished  and  enthusiastic 
angler. — Cincinnati  {Ohio)  Star. 
Cleveland's  Words.— Charles 
Bradford  writes  practical  and 
sensible  books.  —  Philadelphia 
{Pa.)  Public  Ledger. 

Angling      Anticipations, 
Mr.  Bradford  believes  fishing  is 
a    means    and    not    an    end. 
Albany  Argus. 

Joyous  Material. — He  has 
gathered  material  to  make  the 
heart  of  the  fisherman  leap  for 
joy. — Boston  Transcript. 

Would  Please  Walton 
Izaak  Walton,  Christopher 
North,  and  the  other  mighty 
fishermen  known  to  fame,  would 
wag  their  wise  heads  approvingly 
over  Mr.  Bradford's  book. 
The  Pilgrims  who  told  King 
James  that  they  desired  to  ^o 
to  the  new  world  to  worship 
God  and  catch  fishes  would 
accord  Mr.  Bradford's  volume 
a  place  beside  the  Bay  Psalm 
Book. — Pittsburg   {Pa.)    Gazette. 

Entertaining. — Mr.  Brad 
ford  has  written  before^  on  an- 
gling, and  very  entertainingly. — 
Saturday  Evening  Post  {Phila.). 

Contemplative  Man.  — 
Charles  Bradford  is  one  to 
whom,  as  Washington  Irving 
said,  "There  is  something  in 
angling  that  tends  to  produce 
a  gentleness  of  spirit  and  a 
pure  serenity  of  mind." — Dundee 
{Scot.)  Adv. 

Universal  Reading. — The 
descriptive  matter  is  both 
interesting  and  instructive. 
Fishermen  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  will  find  the  book  well 
worth  reading.— 5ay  City  {Mich.) 
Tribune,  July  19,  1900. 


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